Superman: In a Simpler Time
by ajarntham
Summary: AU origin story, set in the World War II era. Not dark, not gritty, not edgy; hopefully not just cotton candy either. Uses a modified screenplay format.
1. Prologue

**A/N **This story uses a modified 'Screenplay' format, which basically means that the narrative is present tense rather than past tense, and that the dialogue goes

"JOR-EL: What are the long-term prospects for Krypton?"

rather than,

"Jor-El asked the computer, 'What are the long-term prospects for Krypton?'"

. . . and** boldface **indicates scene change. This is because I wrote this as a kind of fantasy about what kind of Superman movie I would like to see (i.e., by contrast with the ones I was in fact seeing). I hope this is not too off-putting; we've all had to read plays in English classes, right? If it is distracting, I can only plead that you give it a try for a while, and maybe you'll get used to it.

There will be six chapters: this prologue, then one set in Smallville, one in Metropolis, two set in WWII Berlin, then back to Smallville. A chapter should be out every two or three days. The story/screenplay is finished, but I'm open to revisions and special requests if anybody has any.

Prologue: Krypton

**Against a vast desert landscape**, three colossal gray pyramids form an equilateral triangle. Scattered ruins of many others stretch to the horizon, and one can easily see how they came to ruin: two of the pyramids are firing terrific bolts of energy at the third. They dissipate against an invisible shield, but that shield is clearly becoming weaker.

**Within the pyramid under attack**, no sign of the combat outside is visible. A city of about the size of Chicago takes up the entirety of the base, its 'sky' weirdly distorted by the pyramidal edges. Large-screen monitors sit high above every corner, and a 'benevolent' holographic face with eyes that followed movement look down. Below every such face can be seen the subscript: 'OSMAN WATCHES OVER US.'

**At one intersection** a man addresses a large, dense crowd arranged in columns and rows and unveils a statue of Osman, delivering a speech whose words do not matter as much as his body language, which reek of humble gratitude. The audience applauds in unison.

**Elsewhere**, withinthe pyramid under attack, a small opening allows a constant stream of truck-sized cargo containers to enter on **vast conveyer belts**. No humans are taking part in this process. Each cargo truck on the conveyor belt goes through almost instantaneous (and completely automated) breakdown, where the trucks are opened and the minerals melted and separated into arterial flows, then refinement, where the 'arteries' branch into an intricate crisscross of uncountable 'capillaries,' carrying molten matter of different colors and consistency.

Sets of capillaries spray their variegated contents into tiny containers; the contents instantly harden and take the shape of microchips, which flow into **a large, sterile room**. The chips are rushed via a network of tubes into slots in the mechanism which occupy an entire wall. Again, no human hands take part.

The one human in the room, clearly recognizable as OSMAN from all his likenesses (although the element of flattery in those sculptures is quite apparent), seems to have been lulled to sleep by the hum of activity. He is startled into alertness by a moment of silence, as the breaks appear in the flow of chips. Panicked, he bolts up and addresses the wall:

OSMAN: Brainiac, what is happening? Why are there gaps in the production line?

BRAINIAC (_speaking of course in a disembodied, unemotional voice_): Silicon mines have been fully depleted, resulting in a shortfall in production of the latest generation of processors.

OSMAN: What does that mean? How soon do we run out? How will that affect the war effort?

BRAINIAC: Production will halt in approximately five minutes. Computers will continue carrying out defensive and offensive calculations using the previous generation of processors. But these will prove inadequate to meet our offensive or defensive requirements.

The thunderstorm of chips being poured into their places is now a series of intermittent downpours.

OSMAN: The previous generation is only eight hours old! You assured me at the time that this new processor represented the highest reach of computing capacity, that it gave us a qualitative advantage!

BRAINIAC: So it did, eight hours ago. But our advantage turned out to be insufficient for a decisive breakthrough. This failure naturally comes as a great disappointment. The enemy will soon overtake us once more in speed of computation, and we have no capacity for a response.

The downpours are becoming drizzles.

OSMAN: But you promised this latest chip would meet all our needs!

BRAINIAC: Again, please accept our apologies. (_Brainiac seems to be doing his digital best to express regret to his human._) We are just as disappointed as you are.

Now there are only occasional CLICKs, each sounding like part of a slow countdown. **Outside of Pyramid I,** the play of lights assumes a new pattern, with larger and larger, longer and longer bursts of light occupying the space.

**Inside** the pyramid, people look up, with some degree of awe but without any real alarm, as cracks began to appear in the "sky."

Then the sky opens up, and bolts of fire rain down, annihilating all.

Pieces of the statue which had just been unveiled do remain, including the inscription: 'OSMAN: BEHOLD HIS WORK!'

Pyramid I is now rubble, and fires burn all around it. Pyramids II and III continue firing at the carcass of Pyramid I for a few seconds, then the firing trails off. For a couple of seconds, there is stillness. Then they begin firing on one another.

**Within another sterile room,** almost identical to that in Pyramid I, a man in impressive regalia – JOR-EL – contemplates the viewscreen, which shows the ruin of Pyramid I. He addresses "his" Brainiac computer:

JOR-EL: Status and projections.

BRAINIAC (_in the same voice as the Brainiac of Pyramid I_): City-state Argos is annihilated. City-state Barios is at approximately fifty one percent capacity, we are at sixty three; they devoted more resources to the attack than did we, so the advantage is ours. We should prevail within sixty hours.

JOR-EL: Longer-term?

There is a long pause while Brainiac digests the request, and there is a slightly wounded quality to its voice, as if it has been asked to perform a trick it hadn't been trained for.

BRAINIAC; Our sector will be closely contested, Jor-El. The results depend too closely on too many small variables in initial conditions to allow a meaningful probability calculation.

JOR-EL: And ultimately?

BRAINIAC: Krypton has the same probability of ultimate survival as any of the other city states remaining: essentially nil.

There is a slight pause.

JOR-EL: Can we make the deep-space launch?

BRAINIAC: The consumption of resources would decisively alter the balance between ourselves and Barios.

JOR-EL: Could the ship escape before our destruction?

BRAINIAC: The launch itself would open us to destruction, but it would escape.

There is another pause, as Jor-El considers this.

BRAINIAC: Our destruction would be certain. The ship's survival across six light years, and safe arrival on an inhabited planet, very far from certain.

Jor-El does not change expression.

JOR-EL: Initiate the project.

BRAINIAC: Initiating.

JOR-EL: Announce that I will be making a public appearance.

In **a public square** within Krypton, a tremendous crowd waits around a giant screen which displays an idealized still-shot of Jor-El's face. As triumphalist music plays, the giant Mao-poster comes to life and speaks:

SCREEN JOR-EL: My people; my people of Krypton. I am speaking to a people which has never been defeated in war. Since the beginning of the Era of Contest, we have gone on from victory to victory. But today is the most glorious day of our proud history...

**Back in the sterile room**, while the speech unfolds, Jor-El is fluently manipulating the menu of some Kryptonian version of PhotoShop, viewing camera shots of the crowd for feedback hints. His face on the room's viewscreen (the same idealized face shown to the crowd on the giant screen) cycles through subtle alterations in brightness, contrast, etc. as he works. He does not speak, the speech of course being pre-recorded or synthesized:

SCREEN JOR-EL: Today we make ourselves masters, not of a state, not of a sector, not of a world, but of space itself. Through our unity of purpose, through the intensity of our devotion to the idea of Krypton, we have taken a great leap forward. In the capsule above you now...

**In the capsule**, a motionless newborn is encased in an elaborate high-tech rigging. Far beneath him is the crowd of a million or so, all now looking upwards.

SCREEN JOR-EL: ...is my only son, genes of my genes, bearer of the hope and strength of all Krypton. He is about to embark on an unparalleled journey, and when he completes it, it will be on the shores of a new world, to which he will carry the ways of Krypton. And now: Let the skies open!

The capsule slowly ascends towards an **opening in the "sky,"** guarded by a sphere of light.

SCREEN JOR-EL: Let our enemies snarl in envious rage!

The crowd erupts in a 'hail!' storm as the capsule flies up and out.

SCREEN JOR-EL: Krypton will never die!

The martial music and speeches continued to ring, In **the sterile room**, however, the actual Jor-El closes his eyes and leans his chin on his hands.

The capsule ascends over the peak of Pyramid II and continues upwards faster and faster. The capsule **zooms towards us**, fills the screen, and is gone.

The light-play between Pyramids II and III continues, with the ruin of Pyramid I nearby. Again the lights build, this time over Pyramid II, but even more rapidly.

Soon, there is a vast implosion.

After a few moments, debris settles. Only Pyramid III is left. It fires a few insurance shots into the remains of Pyramid II, then lifts its great bulk off the earth, hovers, rotates, and flies off out of the picture.

_Fade out._

_Fade in_

In **another war room **– far less technologically advanced – a hand removes a pin fastening a triangle to a spot on a large wall-map, replaces the triangle at another spot, and pins it there. Officers scuttle to and fro wearing the uniforms of the American Army of WWI. A soldier, a wiry-strong man in his late twenties – JONATHAN KENT – receives some orders, salutes, and runs towards us. He zigzags across **a battlefield**, while sporadic fire illuminates the sky.

We cut away to **outer space**, where the capsule enters earth's atmosphere, leaving a heat trail above the outline of Western Europe.

Back to the **battlefield** perspective: a shooting star appears high in the sky. The soldier halts to look. He quickly bows his head and whispers:

JONATHAN KENT: I wish Martha and I could have a son.

We cut away to **outside the Kent farm, at nighttime**. The farmhouse is surrounded by a wheat field and miles of emptiness. No other lights or structures are visible. Then we shift to the **farmhouse interior **where an attractive, somewhat full-figured woman also in her twenties – MARTHA KENT – is baking something in the kitchen. She takes down a large asbestos mitt, then hears a tremendous whine/crash/scrape. She hurries **outside**.

Martha see the capsule, half-buried, stops for a moment, then continues, a little more slowly, to it. It is red hot, and a crying baby is seen (though not heard) within. Hurriedly and anxiously, Martha uses her oven mitt to pry the hatch open and take up the bawling infant.

In **one of the trenches **of the Great War, men sit and read their mail. Jonathan opens his **letter**, and we read it as we hear Martha's voice over:

MARTHA: 'My dearest Jonathan; I'm going to have to try telling you about something which will sound incredible...'

There are sounds of shelling, and men shout and move around but Jonathan remains engrossed in his reading.

MARTHA: '...I can't even begin to guess where the baby came from, who his parents were, or what happened to them; but I know that in the end what happens to him depends on how we treat him and how he chooses for himself, just as it would if he were our natural son.'

Ignoring the furious sounds and motion around him, Jonathan looks up from the letter, pleased and astonished.

_FADE OUT_


	2. Smallville

Part I: Smallville

It's autumn at the **Kent farm**. YOUNG CLARK (about seven) comes off the school bus and is eagerly greeted by Martha and Jonathan. They walk **home.**

YOUNG CLARK: Tim Grassley says his father just got a brand new Buick.

MARTHA: Oh, won't that impress the cows!

YOUNG CLARK: And today we learned about how Pecos Bill stopped the tornado with only (_pantomiming_): his horse and lasso, he said 'Hold it right there!'

JONATHAN: We could use a man like that in Kansas.

YOUNG CLARK : Why doesn't he come and help, Dad?

JONATHAN: He isn't a real man, Clark; he's a made-up story hero. You're getting to be a big boy now, old enough to know the difference.

YOUNG CLARK: Why do people make up stories like that, about heroes?

JONATHAN: Well, it's a way of helping us imagine we could all do the things that we wish we could - that we could be stronger and braver than we really are. And sometimes imagining ourselves that way helps us actually do what we know we should do.

Young Clark looks puzzled, shrugs.

YOUNG CLARK: Okay.

[_Fade Out / Fade in_]

It's **another day at the Kent farm**. Young Clark (in different clothes) is in the middle of his story as he comes through the door with Jonathan, Martha bringing dinner to the table.

YOUNG CLARK: Today we heard about Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves and keeping the country together. He was a real man, wasn't he?

MARTHA: He certainly was.

YOUNG CLARK: But what I liked best, we heard about John Henry, how he beat the steel drill, and his song.

MARTHA: Oh, there's a song about him?

YOUNG CLARK: Oh yes. But I know about the difference between real people and made-up ones now, so I know he's a made-up one, the way he could swing a hammer harder than a machine.

JONATHAN: No, John Henry was a real man, son. He did have a duel with a machine, and he did beat the thing.

YOUNG CLARK: Wow, really! Would you like to learn the song about him?

MARTHA: You learned the whole thing? That's very good. Do you think you could teach us?

YOUNG CLARK: (singing): 'The Captain said to John Henry / 'Gonna bring that steam drill 'round / Gonna bring that steam drill out on the job . . .

He pantomimes the 'hammering' action when the 'Whop' comes.

YOUNG CLARK: 'Gonna whop that steel on down, Lord, Lord! / Whop that steel on down.' Then you're supposed to sing the last two lines again, I don't know why. Ready?

All three bring out their 'hammers' and get ready to swing them on the thick oak dinner table when the 'whops' come.

ALL THREE: 'Gonna whop that steel on down, Lord Lord! / Whop . . .

But on the second 'Whop,' Clark brings his fist down hard on the table and breaks it to pieces.

Young Clark is torn between fright at what he has done and hysterical giggles. Jonathan and Martha get over their own fright and astonishment, put their arms around their son, and begin a long talk.

[_Fade Out / Fade in_]

Against a blank screen, the voice of a young woman declaims:

YOUNG WOMAN (OS): ''Tis wonderful to have a giant's strength, but tyrannous to use it as a giant!'

The screen fills, showing **a high school stage**. The voice belongs to a pretty teenager on stage in Smallville's best 'Renaissance' dress, facing a teen boy in the male equivalent of same. Both act with more enthusiasm than polish.

YOUNG WOMAN: 'Could great men thunder as Jove himself does, Jove would never be quiet, for every pelting, petty officer would use his heaven for thunder, nothing but thunder!'

YOUNG MAN: 'Why do you put these sayings upon me?'

**In the audience**, proud parents look on, including the Kents: so the young man must be CLARK, making the young woman LANA LANG.

LANA: 'Because authority, though it err like others, hath yet a kind of medicine in itself. Go to your bosom, knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know.'

CLARK: (aside): 'She speaks, and 'tis such sense that my sense breeds with it. - Fare you well.'

Clark has acted enough suggestiveness into 'breeds' that some classmates in the audience get the point and issue 'WOOO's. Jonathan and Martha obviously believe that Clark's performance is the greatest thing Kansas has yet seen.

LATER

Curtain call; applause. Clark and Lana take their bows as lead couple, smiling at each other longer and more enthusiastically than is strictly necessary for theatrical purposes. Then the actors, now in regular clothes, come through the **auditorium exit**. Clark and Lana chat with each other, arm in arm. Three male students approach, snickering a little. A boy in plaid (TIM) takes the lead in the razzing.

TIM: Clark! Lana! You are such - such great thespians. I've never seen thespianism like that. I almost wish my dad would let me be a thespian.

CLARK: Glad you liked it.

LANA: I bet your dad would let you do anything that kept you out of his house, Tim.

TIM: Lana, how can you say that? I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me Shakespeare or give me death!

At the last line, Tim (who has taken up a stance to Clark's side) 'dramatically' spreads his arms and thus 'innocently' backhands Clark's chest. It's pretty strong, but probably not really strong enough to knock a young man of Clark's size stumbling backwards the way he does.

Tim laughs and puts his arm around Clark's shoulders.

TIM: Hey, sorry, thesp. I really didn't think I hit you that hard. You know I'm just kidding, right?

CLARK: Oh, sure. Of course.

TIM: All right. See you around, Clark. See you, Lana!

Tim and company exit. Lana looks a little sour at Clark for a moment. He smiles and shrugs.

CLARK: You know how show business is, Lana; give the people what they want, leave them laughing...

Lana is finally persuaded to take Clark's arm again.

[_Fade Out / Fade in_]

**Night at the** **Kent Farm. **Clark walks between Jonathan and Martha towards a table, with a radio on top, just outside a window.

CLARK: Something's up, I can tell.

JONATHAN: You were so good in the play, we thought you deserved a kind of night out, Clark.

MARTHA: And we know it can't always be easy for you to hold yourself back all the time. So this is a little chance to stretch out.

CLARK: (Nodding to the radio): You're going to let me dance? Maybe I should call Lana.

JONATHAN: No, the dance program isn't on tonight: there's a live broadcast of the Olympics. We thought you might like a chance to see if you could beat the world record.

CLARK: Well! What event am I entering?

JONATHAN: Let's see what's on. Is there anybody around?

Clark **sweeps the area with his telescopic vision**, showing . . .

CLARK: Nobody in sight.

Clark claps his hands and does a few jumping jacks as Jonathan turns on the radio. He moves some distance away from Jonathan, Martha and the house.

ANNOUNCER (on radio): We're now in the last round of the long jump.

Jonathan and Martha point Clark to his starting place.

ANNOUNCER (on radio): Luz Long of Germany leading with twenty five feet, ten inches, and Jesse Owens coming now to his final jump and his final chance to take the gold medal.

Clark poises himself to begin running. A WHISTLE from the radio signals the start, and Clark dashes down **the gravel road**.

ANNOUNCER (on radio): Owens, with his sprinter's speed, pouring it on down the runway. He comes to the board -

Clark takes off soaring.

ANNOUNCER (on radio): It looks like he's really hit that jump. (CROWD ROAR) He has!

As Jesse Owens comes down, Clark is still going up.

ANNOUNCER (on radio): We'll have to wait for the measurement, but Jesse Owens may just have won his third gold medal at these Olympic Games.

As the radio silence stretches, Clark is not exactly flying, but is up long enough to languidly pump his arms and legs, striding on air as one does in a dream. He is still in the air while the announcer waits for the measurement.

ANNOUNCER (on radio): The measurement is coming up...

Clark comes down from the Milky Way (behind him in the night sky), plowing a huge divot of grass and gravel as he does.

ANNOUNCER (on radio): It's twenty six feet eight inches! It's a new world record!

Clark turns and sees Martha and Jonathan, near the house, now hundreds of feet away.

They clap and cheer. Clark takes a bow, like the one we saw him take earlier, and runs back to them, arms raised.

[_Fade Out / Fade in_]

Clark, Lana all the other students in their formal wear for the **graduation ceremony **on the **high school stage. **Jonathan, Martha, all the other parents in the audience. A DIGNITARY comes to the podium.

DIGNITARY: 'We cross the prairie as of old / The fathers crossed the sea, / To make the West, as they the East,/ The homestead of the free.' Those lines are from Whittier's 'Song of the Kansas Emigrant.' It was composed in honor of men who may have been your great-grandparents: the brave men - and women - who came to Kansas, and particularly to this area of Kansas, to fight the battle against slavery. Graduates, I hope you will always remember their ideals and sacrifices, and that you yourselves will bring further honor to their legacy.

The **hall** is decked with congratulatory banners; music of 1936 is playing; and on the **dance floor,** students dance, Lana and Clark among them.

LANA: You can hold me tighter than that when we're dancing, Clark. You're not going to break me.

Clark happily complies.

CLARK: Lana, how would you like to go for a drive after the party is over?

LANA: I think I'd like that.

The Greater Smallville area does not boast the most romantic and picturesque of **lovers' lanes**, but Lana and Clark make do. Matters are developing naturally, when Clark breaks the kiss.

CLARK: Lana - did you hear that?

Like Lana, we don't hear anything.

LANA: Clark, you don't always have to be so nervous; nobody's following us, and even if they were, it's not as if we were doing anything wrong...

CLARK: It's the tornado warning.

Clark's telescopic vision shows the dark funnel heading towards Smallville, and the sound of the warning is now audible to Lana and us.

LANA: We have to go back and get into the shelters.

CLARK: Lana, I don't know...

LANA: Clark, we don't know if we can outrun it; and if we don't get back our parents might stay out looking for us; drive us back now!

On the **Kansas road, **the tornado is approaching; it is clear that they aren't going to make it to shelter.

Clark stops the car, gets out, and looks up at the twister, which now dwarfs them and seems to be bearing down right on them. He lifts Lana out and carries her behind a bank.

CLARK: Get down, Lana, I'll protect you!

LANA: No, Clark, how can you...

CLARK: Trust me, Lana, we'll be OK!

He covers her body with his, his front to her back. Clark digs himself a handhold in the earth and awaits the blast.

Before it reaches them, the tornado tears through a house and sends the planks of its wooden walls scattering like straw. But they are large, heavy planks as they fly towards Clark and Lana.

Though Lana cannot see anything she obviously can hear the sickening series of impacts as Clark is pelted with projectiles which should kill him a dozen times over. Her screams turn into despairing sobs.

The assault finally ends, the sound dims, the sky clears. Lana is still crying unstoppably, but almost out of energy for it as she reaches out her arms to hold the arms of her dead boyfriend.

CLARK: (OS): Lana; Lana, you're OK?

Lana's vocalizations and movements communicate disbelief, relief, joy and renewed fright. She scrambles up from beneath him, and Clark also regains his feet.

Clark's clothes are torn to shreds, but he is unbloodied. He is, however, a little wobbly, and rubs a bit at his sore spots. Lana begins to step backward, away from this frightful spectacle, then rushes back into his arms.

LANA: CLARK! You saved my life - Oh God honey thank you - But listen, listen...

CLARK: We have to get in and let our parents know we're OK, then...

LANA: No, wait...

CLARK: And we should probably get checked out by a doctor...

LANA: Stop, Clark. Stop. Neither of us needs a doctor. And that's- that's what's impossible. I could hear you getting hit, just look at yourself!

Clark looks with embarrassment at the remains of his best suit.

LANA: No human being could have survived that.

This statement hangs in the air for a long moment.

LANA: So, what are ... what are you going to tell me, about all this?

This statement hangs in the air for another long moment. It's clear that Clark heard the unspoken "what are you?" perfectly well.

CLARK: Maybe... I'm an angel?

A shorter pause.

LANA: Maybe you could get your mother and father to believe that, but I sure know better, mister!

Lana has already started laughing - both at her own joke and in hysterical relief - halfway through this line; Clark joins her, and once they start they can't stop.

[_Fade Out / Fade in_]

**At the Kent home, **Clark, Jonathan and Martha descend the staircase to the **basement**, then pull up a trapdoor to enter **another sub-level**, with the Kryptonian capsule on the ground and also a standing, ten-foot-high cylindrical metal 'cabinet' with a slight seam running down the middle, and handles on either side of the seam at shoulder height. Clearly the handles are meant to be gripped and pulled apart to open the cylinder.

CLARK: I think today's the day. I almost had it last time.

JONATHAN (Grinning): Want me to loosen it up a little for you, Clark?

CLARK: Go it, Dad!

Jonathan pulls at the handles with all his might. They do not move in the slightest.

MARTHA: We tried it with horses, you know, and they had brains enough not to kill themselves trying.

Jonathan seats himself, and Clark approaches the apparatus.

MARTHA: Clark, before you try it...

CLARK: I know, Mom; you say this every time...

MARTHA: And I'm going to say it again. Honey, we're all expecting that if you can open that thing, it'll somehow tell us all where you're from and how you got to have the powers you have. And maybe it will. But it might not. Or it might turn out to tell a story that's very painful to hear. But nothing behind those doors is going to change what kind of young man you've turned out to be, and nothing is going to change the way your father and I love you.

After the hugs, it's down to business.

As Clark begins to pry the doors open, a blue light, like the lights we saw over the pyramids of Krypton, builds and discharges. The wider the gap becomes, the stronger the lights blaze. Clark seems to be winning the battle.

Now, the blue blazes coalesce into different forms: of giant hands which push against Clark's pull, of bolts of force which dart out to attack him, of ghoulish faces which shout deep-bass threats against him.

MARTHA: Clark! Let go!

He doesn't seem to hear her; something like battle-lust now sparkles in Clark's eyes as he faces this challenge.

CLARK: (to the machine): Oh no you don't!

With a final effort, he not only bursts the doors open but tears them completely off their hinges. He holds one huge quarter-cylinder in each arm.

He throws them, one after the other, to the ground.

The lights again coalesce and take the form of a four-times-life-size holograph of JOR-EL's head, floating above what remains of the cylinder. It smiles down benevolently on Clark. It looks very much like Clark (and of course it is; the same actor plays both parts).

JOR-EL (holo): You have passed the test, my son. Now hear your past, and your future.

Clark takes a step back; his parents come forward to join him, and inspect the ungodly apparition.

JOR-EL (holo): Your real name is Kal-El. I am Jor-El, your father.

CLARK: I had kind of figured that out. But what are you exactly? You aren't flesh and blood.

JOR-EL (holo): No, I am Jor-El's true self, his mind, preserved through science.

JONATHAN: And 'Kal-El's mother?

JOR-EL (holo): He needed no mother, he is my genetic copy.

The Kents, including Clark, are looking more and more suspicious and troubled.

JOR-EL (holo): Our planet was far more advanced than yours, but the Era of Contest began: a war of all against all, fought with weapons designed by giant brains.

**Holographic** illustrations show the **pyramids at war**, scuttling like monstrous insects. At the phrase 'giant brains' we see the Brainiac computer.

JOR-EL (holo): I ruled one such enclosed state. I saw that there was no future for us, so I tried to preserve something of me, of us: I sent you away, into space. But in doing so, Krypton was destroyed.

The Kent family recoils.

JOR-EL (holo): They were doomed anyway; the entire planet is doomed. The last state surviving will face a world so ruined by the war it won't be able to support them. It took at least five hundred years for your capsule to cross the six light years between our worlds. In those five hundred years we have surely destroyed each other. We are all dead.

JONATHAN: How could this have happened?

JOR-EL (holo): That information was not preserved. Now I offer my grateful thanks to you two for fostering my son. You will have your reward when Kal-El becomes ruler.

MARTHA: Oh, we don't need to be rewarded for raising our own son. And what's this 'ruler' nonsense?

JOR-EL (holo): Kal-El, you must know by now that you possess powers far beyond those of mortal men. Within that cylinder you will find something which will help you use them.

Clark discovers the **Superman suit** and the Kents all look at it with curiosity.

JOR-EL (holo): The suit is indestructible. It might even enhance your powers in some ways. It will certainly set you apart from all others. You have the power to unify the entire Earth, to found a permanent dynasty; that way, I and all Krypton will have survived.

CLARK: You want me to bring the blessings of Kryptonian civilization to us poor backward natives on Earth?

JOR-EL (holo): Don't you understand, my son, you can see to it that this world isn't torn apart: by preventing it from ever dividing into warring states the way our world did! It's already starting to happen here. Germany, Russia, Japan, are all building it. You must realize that your life as 'Clark Kent' is over.

Clark has heard enough. He tries to turn the specter off, to crush the mechanism but can't. 'His' face continues to look down on him. Clark rushes up the stairs, and into **the field**.

Jonathan and Martha soon catch up with Clark.

CLARK: So it's true - I'm not a human being. I wasn't even born, if I understood all that right: I was grown, or built. And was that me in there - or is it what I'm destined to be?

JONATHAN: Nobody is destined for anything, Clark, not as long as they can say 'no' to it.

MARTHA: You may not have come from a woman's body, baby, but you were as helpless an infant crying in a woman's arms as any of us were.

JONATHAN: Why do you think your mother told you, every single time you tried to open that box, how in the end it didn't really matter? Because you aren't what you came from, or what other people try to make you into, you are what you prove yourself to be. You know how many people came to this country from the most awful dictatorships, getting away from the most horrible wars, and made things better for themselves and for the rest of us. You just came a little bit farther than any of them.

Clark hugs his parents.

[_Fade Out / Fade in_]

Clark and Lana are walking together on **a Smallville Street**, Clark with his hands in his pockets, looking down.

CLARK: So now you know what I am.

LANA: Clark I'm really sorry for the...

CLARK: No, I understand, you were in shock, and anyway you were right...

Lana grabs Clark's hand out of his pocket and holds it in hers.

LANA: Clark, you had never been in a tornado before, had you?

CLARK: No.

LANA: So no matter how strong you thought you were, you couldn't have known that you weren't going to be killed. But you still didn't hesitate - you exposed yourself to the worst of it, to protect me. I think that makes you the best kind of human being, Clark.

CLARK: Well - what can I say? Thanks, Lana.

LANA: Oh, you can do better than 'thanks, Lana,' especially if you're going away. Come here, my strange visitor from another planet.

A long embrace.

CLARK: So, you'll be all right...?

LANA: I'm a Jayhawk all the way, Clark. We're tough birds.

CLARK: I'm heading to Metropolis, like I said. You may hear of some strange things happening there, so if you do...

LANA: I wouldn't tell anybody. And you remember: wherever you go, and whatever you do...

CLARK: Yes?

LANA: (In 'the teacher's' voice): You are always representing Smallville High!

FADE OUT


	3. Metropolis

Part II: Metropolis

On a blank screen, we read the legend '**Metropolis, 1941**'

**At a bar/restaurant **(busy, smoky, but not a dive), a man drinks at the bar, his back turned to us.

MAN: Eighty five cents for a glass this size?

He drinks it down.

MAN: You know why it's so expensive, don't you? We've all got to pay jacked-up prices for these watered-down drinks because Madman Skowron is shaking every place down.

The other customers fearfully shush him, and move away.

MAN (louder): Everybody's afraid of this guy! I'm not! I don't think it's right. Maybe I'll do something about it.

Two very intimidating men sidle up to either side of the man. The other customers make way for them.

THUG RIGHT: You've got big plans.

He gives the man a quick backhanded smack to the top of the head. The man starts, and bends back to his left, only to get a hard jab in the kidneys from Thug Left. The man doubles over on the bar. Thug Right turns to the other patrons, with a fierce glare.

THUG RIGHT: Is there anybody else here who wants to hear our friend...

He picks the man's head up by the back hairs, then BANGS it back down on the bar.

THUG RIGHT: ...talking? Anybody?

People look away. The one or two who catch the thug's eye shake their heads 'no' and look down again.

Thug Right looks down at the man, who is still covering his head in his hands, and yanks away one hand to yell in his ear.

THUG RIGHT: You don't go talking about how you're going to 'do something about it.' I know it's a joke, that a drunken snotrag like you couldn't do anything about anything...

MAN: It's not a joke. I am going to do something.

Thug Right scratches his chin, poker-faced. Pauses a moment.

THUG RIGHT: OK, let's go.

MAN: Why should I go with you?

THUG RIGHT: We're going to give you your chance to be a star. Come on. We're going.

The two thugs drag the struggling man out.

**Inside a gaudy-looking mansion, **SKOWRON, an oily man in a very expensive suit, sits on a 'throne', as the MAN stands in front of him. He remains silent when Skowron asks him questions.

SKOWRON: You're a brave, brave man. You fight for what's right. Isn't that right, friend? You don't like the prices? A man like you...

Skowron pulls at the lapel of the man's cheap suit, which comes off, to universal laughter.

SKOWRON: ...what should you care about prices? I bet you do know all about the prices of drinks, though, don't you? You smell like a real economic genius there. You've got one chance to live, genius.

Skowron pulls out a gun with his right hand, and puts it to the man's left temple.

SKOWRON: Get down on your knees, and kiss my feet.

MAN: Then you give me a bullet in the head anyway; that's your trademark, right Skowron? Well, I won't give you the satisfaction.

SKOWRON (louder): Get down right now, or else!

MAN: Or else what?

SKOWRON: Or else I blow your head off!

MAN: With what?

SKOWRON: With this gun right here, you id-

There is nothing in Skowron's hand. The man slowly raises his own right arm, and there it is.

MAN: You mean this one, Skowron? I wouldn't put much faith in this gun.

Our angle of view is reversed and the man is shown as CLARK (whose 'drunken slob' makeup would have impressed his Drama teachers). He crushes the gun to slag with one squeeze.

CLARK: It seems to be defective.

Clark flings Skowron away, turns and begins walking towards the gunmen. They all have their machine guns raised but seem paralyzed with astonishment.

SKOWRON: Shoot him!

The guns blaze. Clark's drunkard's clothes are shot to pieces; he tears the remains away, revealing himself in full Superman regalia. He continues walking slowly and steadily through the continuing gunfire. The rebounding bullets begin to strike some of the gunmen, who shout with pain.

One gunman charges with a baseball bat and swings at Superman's head, with predictable results.

Superman sees two larger-than-life statues of Skowron. He picks up the bronze statue and twirls it one-handed like an on-deck batter; picks up the marble one, tosses it up like a fungo ball; then tees off, shattering the marble statue and sending fragments flying into the gunmen's ranks.

The gunmen break and run howling for the door. When the last one is out, Superman flings the statue backhanded and sends the entire wall crashing down.

(A brief cut to **outside, **where amazed citizens watch as the men run screaming down the street, looking back to see if their invisible pursuer is behind them.)

Now Superman is alone with the bug-eyed Skowron, who is trying to hide behind a pillar. Superman puts an arm on the pillar and starts to push, bringing screams of protest:

SKOWRON: Oh my God, are you crazy?

CLARK: No, no: you're 'Madman' Skowron, remember? Do you want to disrespect the title you were so proud to earn?

SKOWRON: We'll be killed!

CLARK: You're a funny guy, Skowron. Or at least you're a good straight man. You know the punch line, don't you?

Superman gives the pillar a last shove; it breaks in half.

CLARK: 'What do you mean - 'We'?'

The pillar gives way, the roof comes down.

Huge chunks fall harmlessly on Superman, and others are about to land on Skowron when Superman shatters them mid-air with his fists.

When all has settled, Superman bends down and half smiles at the quivering catatonic among the plaster wreckage.

CLARK: I want you to do me a favor.

Cut to a close-up of the **Daily Planet front page**; we see a 'photo by James Olsen' of Skowron kissing the feet of a surprised-looking judge. The headline is 'MADMAN' SKOWRON TURNS SELF IN, BEGS FOR PUNISHMENT ('story by Clark Kent')

**Inside the Daily Planet, **Clark sits in a room where the front-pages from years and years of back issues are framed on the wall. Scanning them we are introduced to the alternate history in which this story is set:

ROOSEVELT ASSASSINATED

GERMANY ATTACKS CZECH

BARKLEY CALLS FOR PEACE TALKS and - below the fold - a story BRITISH MP KILLED IN AUTO ACCIDENT with a small photo of Winston Churchill.

NAZI-SOVIET PACT / RUSSIA PLEDGES 'FULL ALLIANCE'/ AXIS OF GERMANY-USSR-JAPAN 'POSSIBLE THREAT TO U.S.,' SAYS BARKLEY

GERMANS TAKE PARIS / BRITISH ARMY TRAPPED

JAPAN ENTERS WAR / ATTACKS ON SINGAPORE, BURMA

ENGLAND INVADED

BRITISH GOVERNMENT IN CANADA PLEDGES 'CONTINUED STRUGGLE' / America Arming, but 'Will not Enter War''

Clark looks up as PERRY WHITE comes through the door with LOIS LANE. Perry here is less the 'gruff boss' and more the 'wise old man.' Lois is about Clark's age (i.e., early-mid 20's).

PERRY: Lois Lane, Clark Kent.

Lois smiles at Clark and puts out her hand to be shaken.

LOIS: How do you do, Clark, it's very nice to meet you.

CLARK: Hi. Nice to meet you too.

They seat themselves, Lois and Clark across the table from Perry.

PERRY: I know you got my memo, so what do you think of working together on the World's Fair story.

LOIS: Well, Perry, my first thought was that if Clark weren't on this story as well...

She smiles at Clark and he quickly smiles back.

LOIS: I might suspect you were trying to put me back in the 'woman's stories' box.

PERRY: No, it has a number of angles to it. Think of the promise and threat of future technology; think of the nations represented and how they're trying to present themselves to the U.S. Take a walk, talk it over; get acquainted.

As they take that walk down the **skyscraper-framed street**, Clark looks at Lois more fixedly than she at him.

LOIS: I understand you're from Kansas. So you came straight from there to Metropolis - you were never outside Kansas before?

CLARK: Only when I was very young, but I can't remember any of that.

LOIS: I probably seemed a little aggressive to you back there...

CLARK: No, not at all.

LOIS: Well, if we spend much time with one another I'm sure that some time I'll seem that way to you. Being a woman in this job pretty much requires that you be ready to stand up for yourself, and sometimes you - or I in this case - jump up a little too quickly. Perry is right, of course. It is a promising assignment.

CLARK: Yes, but it will take me off the Kurtzman story for a while, and I was close to finishing that one.

LOIS: I am impressed by your work on the crime beat; particularly the way you've avoided sensationalizing. It must have been tempting to play up the 'Superman' rumors, especially since you were the first reporter there.

CLARK: I don't think I should report something as fact when the only witness is a raving mobster.

LOIS: I agree completely! Don't you think we're a little young to be the last defenders of old-school journalism? But speaking as a man, not a reporter...

Clark seems pleased at being asked to speak 'as a man'

LOIS: ...do you believe in the existence of our hero? Have you ever seen this Man of Steel?

CLARK: I've never seen him in action, no. But yes, I'm sure he's real. I've seen what happened at the scenes of the interventions. I don't think rival mobs could have done that. And I've seen the looks on the big bosses' faces. That part was pretty gratifying.

LOIS: Oh, a little vindictiveness from the peaceful heartland?

CLARK: Sorry, maybe a little...

LOIS: No, I'm just teasing. Don't apologize. I know some reporters who get fascinated by those pigs, who even fawn on them and try to be their pets. The lure of power, I guess. I'm glad you don't seem to have that.

CLARK: What gets to me most is the territoriality of it all: each ganglord trying to establish his own little kingdom, ruled by terror. Always trying to expand against other 'kingdoms'; the temporary alliances, the treacheries, the complete indifference to the victims of their insane little wars.

Lois nods sympathetically.

LOIS: I usually cover neighborhood events and neighborhood opinions, but in a city like Metropolis that's a little more than just a local color story. We have a cold peace with Germany, Russia and Japan, and here we are in the city with the largest concentration of their victims: Jews, Ukranians, Chinese. You know that in this city, people with names like Lane and Kent are very much in the minority.

CLARK: Names like...

LOIS: Old WASP names, I mean. I'm supposed to be of pure English stock, though in Metropolis I try to hide it as well as I can. How about you?

CLARK: Actually I was adopted.

LOIS: Well - that means you can be a citizen of the world.

CLARK: I'll try my best!

Two men in the traditional suits (TALL THUG and SHORT THUG) appear behind Lois and Clark.

TALL THUG: Into the car. Now. Mr. Kurtzman wants to do business with you.

CLARK: She doesn't have anything...

LOIS: Don't talk to them, Clark.

They are herded into **the back of the long car**. Clark and Lois are sandwiched in the back seat between the two thugs, Short Thug near Lois.

SHORT THUG: Too bad you were hanging around with this snoop...

LOIS: Shut up and go to hell.

Clark looks up anxiously to see what the reaction to this will be. Short Thug scowls for a moment, then snorts. Lois is staring straight ahead with her head up, but swallowing hard and breathing rapidly.

CLARK: Lois, it's OK; we're going to be alright.

TALL THUG: No you aren't.

Both thugs laugh.

CLARK: Believe me, Lois.

Clark hesitantly (and awkwardly, since they are pinned tightly together) tries to pat Lois' shoulder. She turns and smiles at him as well as she can, and puts her hand over his.

SHORT THUG: Isn't that cute?

The thugs break into hysterical laughter. Lois turns red. Clark takes his hand off her shoulder, but Lois very deliberately replaces it. More laughter and hoots. Clark stares angrily at the laughing mouth of Short Thug with its flying spittle. A quick SIZZLE is heard, and Short Thug howls in pain and brings his hand up to his mouth.

TALL THUG: What the hell is it?

SHORT THUG: Oh damn it - it feels like somebody just stuck a red-hot poker in my mouth - God almighty - get me some cold water, hurry...

Lois allows herself a small chortle and looks at Clark, who seems genuinely puzzled. He turns away from her as comprehension and satisfaction pass over his face.

**Inside another mobster mansion, **Lois and Clark are guarded by gunmen. KURTZMAN (a large, heavy man) stands next to an open coffin.

KURTZMAN: I wanted to get you ready for bed here, Kent, but now that I see what a tall guy you are, maybe it won't be comfortable for you. That's the problem when you try to save money by buying so many at a time, they're all the same size.

The gunmen laugh hard, if a bit mechanically. (Presumably they've heard it before.)

Kurtzman conspicuously wanders over to a closet and pulls out an axe and sharpening wheel. Gunmen hoot and applaud.

KURTZMAN: So I'll have to shorten you a little first, before I put you in. I don't have anything handy for Little Miss Lois yet, but I see she'll need some stretching, after I'm finished with you.

More laughter. Kurtzman starts sharpening. Lois remains stoic. Clark stares steadily at the axe.

KURTZMAN: Yeah, have a good long look, punk, you're going to get an even closer look at this baby in a minute.

Kurtzman's laughter ceases; something is wrong, he is finding it more and more difficult to hold the axe. Finally he howls in pain, throws it down and holds his hands between his knees; the axe is red hot.

Now fires are erupting all through the building, and the gunmen are running for the exits, shouting in panic.

Clark disappears in the smoke. Lois walks a few steps, but the smoke soon fills the room and makes it difficult for her to find her way.

Meanwhile, bodies in suits pierce the smoke, one after another, as they are tossed through the air as if shot out of cannons.

The smoke is half cleared: standing by the coffin is Superman. He seems to be waiting and posing, showing a profile view to Lois with his arms proudly folded over his chest, but with his face turned away.

Lois peers at him through the remaining smoke.

LOIS: Superman? Wait please, just a question...

She tries to walk around to an angle from which she can see his face. He turns and vaults up and away.

The smoke continues to clear, showing the groaning bodies of Tall Thug and Short Thug (hands bound in steel cable) lying among the wreckage.

LOIS: Clark? Clark?

CLARK: Over here, Lois.

With his glasses covered with soot, Clark stumbles a bit towards her. SCREAMS emanate from the coffin.

They walk to it and see it has been cut and soldered so that it is now not much larger than a child's crib.

The screamer inside is Kurtzman, who has somehow been stuffed into it. Lois looks down to see Kurtzman's arms and legs bent and folded in unnatural angles.

KURTZMAN: Oh God, the pain, please, help me, help me! There's a phone right there, please, please call for help!

To Clark's surprise, Lois runs for the phone and hastily dials.

LOIS: Hello, Ellen? It's Lois. Listen, this is an emergency, so please rush it if you could?

Kurtzman's screams abate a little at the prospect of relief.

LOIS: Tell Perry to send a photographer right away to -

Lois turns to Kurtzman on 'photographer' and asks with deadpan politeness . . .

LOIS: What is the exact street address here?

CLARK: It's 128 South Washington. And I've worked with Jimmy Olsen before, he does very good work.

LOIS: Did you get that Ellen? So if Jimmy is available – good, thanks!

Lois hangs up. Kurtzman goes supersonic. The two ignore him.

LOIS: It was Superman. Did you see him?

Clark points to his glasses, still black with smoke. Lois nods her head in understanding.

CLARK: Did you get a good look? Did you see his face?

LOIS: No, sorry; the smoke was too thick and he turned away. But I think this still counts as the first eyewitness who wasn't a raving mobster. He's as real as you or I.

CLARK: Well, I hate to say I told you so...

LOIS: Oh, don't be silly; that's one of the few real pleasures of being a reporter, when you can get it right before anybody else.

Lois looks at Clark with some appreciation.

LOIS: So, thanks for trying to reassure me back there.

Clark looks away in embarrassment and waves his hand dismissively.

CLARK: No, its nothing.

LOIS: And remind me not to doubt you next time.

**Inside a crowded exhibit hall at the World's Fair**, surrounded by glass, Clark, Lois and JIMMY OLSEN are exploring the next great invention: 'television.' Signs explain that with this marvel, those on one side of the exhibition building get a live moving picture of those on the other side.

Lois and Jimmy see Clark 'on-screen' waving to them, and he sees them wave back. Unknown to Lois and Jimmy, he also hears:

LOIS: He strikes me as a very - serious person. You've worked with him, what do you think?

JIMMY: I'd say so. He's about a year and a half older than me and sometimes I think he's my father.

Clark has little time to consider this, hearing a high-pitched signal inaudible to the rest, beginning with walky-talky static.

SABOTEUR (VO): Hello? OK, everything's ready. Start exiting, you have three minutes to get clear.

Lois and Jimmy look at the TV screen, and Clark is gone.

There is a rush of wind outside and, on the other side of the glass behind Lois and Jimmy, a **blue and red blur** is soaring upward. Lois immediately starts running for the glass partition, along with everybody else.

LOIS: Jimmy! Look, up in the sky!

But Jimmy already has his camera out and shooting.

Cutting to an exterior shot, **on top of the tall spire** in the center of the Fair there is Superman, scanning the grounds.

Clark's telescopic vision shows the man with the walky-talky, then his accomplice. He sees the directions in which they move, then scans with X-Ray vision the area where those vectors would intersect. Inside the head of a giant robot in the Global Business Machines exhibit is the bomb. Superman launches himself down towards that building.

Back inside the TV exhibition hall, through the glass, people watch Superman's 'flight'.

BIRDWATCHER: It's a bird!

PLANEWATCHER: It's a plane!

Jimmy finishes his rapid-fire shooting when Superman is no longer visible, turns to Lois and points happily at his telephoto lens.

JIMMY: It's Superman!

Lois gives Jimmy a big grin and thumbs up.

**Outside the "GBM" exhibition building**, a fourth-story wall rapidly approaches Superman. Superman crashes through a wall and spills somewhat awkwardly onto the **exhibit floor**, creating panic among the visitors.

The robot's waist begins at floor level; it is another twelve feet or so up to its shoulders.

Superman jumps up there and yanks off its head, which is larger than himself. The robot's arms continue to flail in their programmed sequence, and one catches Superman and squeezes him.

Superman quickly bursts free and vaults through the wall, head in hand. Superman flings the robot head up as far as he can into the air. The bomb explodes, with shockwaves knocking Superman back down to the ground. The blast also shatters the glass and hurls people backwards, but no blood is seen or any screams after the initial shock.

Superman picks himself up. A shower of steel globules falls on him, all that's left of the robot head.

People come running towards Superman, who vaults away before they can reach him.

**Inside the damaged GBM Hall**, Lois comes upon Clark, talking to a departing witness.

CLARK: Thanks very much.

LOIS: Fast reactions, Clark! What do you have?

CLARK: I have a dozen people describing how Superman took care of that robot. I'm not too bad a high-speed draughtsman, so I tried making a composite sketch. Some of them say they saw his face, and they swore they couldn't possibly miss it if they saw that face again.

LOIS: Better and better! Let me see!

The sketch doesn't look anything like Clark, but it does bear some resemblance to Dudley Do-Right as he might be drawn by a police sketch artist.

**Close-up of the Daily Planet front page**: A photo (meant to duplicate the cover of the 'Superman #1' comic) of the costumed figure (face averted) about to land on the spire, with the 36-point bold headline 'SUPERMAN!'

**Inside the Planet, **Perry sits with Lois and Clark.

PERRY: We have a claim from a Chinese-Jewish-Ukranian Resistance Group saying it was their bomb, to punish GBM for its trade with the Axis. But my sources suspect it was an Axis operation.

LOIS: It would be a propaganda gift: 'You see, they've been fooling you into thinking they're the innocent victims, and look what they do to the country which is so generous in taking them in.'

PERRY: If it was a propaganda ploy, the man behind it was most likely Lex Luthor.

CLARK: Who's Lex Luthor?

PERRY: You might call him the Reich's Renaissance Man: propagandist, inventor, industrialist, even dabbles in architecture. Luthor keeps himself behind the scenes, but he's effectively the number two man in Berlin now. Maybe one and a half. This is one of the very few photographs we have of him.

Clark and Lois study the PHOTOGRAPH of an intensely proud and cruel looking man. (I imagine John Malkovich playing the role.) Perry takes a drink, offers some to Lois (who accepts) and Clark (who declines).

PERRY: I'm thinking of making you two this paper's Berlin correspondents. You're young, but I think you have the right instincts for this kind of work. I haven't made a final decision yet, but take some time to think about whether you're interested.

CLARK: I'll do that, Mr. White.

LOIS: Thank you, Perry.

Clark and Lois walk down the street together.

CLARK: How are we going to follow up on the bomb story? I was thinking of heading to City Hall where some of the community leaders are giving the press conference.

LOIS: You could do that. I've found another way of gauging community sentiment, though.

Lois points to where, within a quarter of a block from them, stand Jewish, Chinese, and Ukrainian restaurants.

LOIS: Come on, say it with me, Clark: "I don't think I'm in Kansas any more!"

She covers her laugh with one hand, leans back and grasps Clark's arm with the other.

LOIS: I'm sorry, I've been looking so hard for a chance to say that!

Clark, who has been trying to keep up a mock-offended look, breaks down and grins. Lois walks ahead, and Clark stops to look at her walking. He's still smiling dreamily.

FADE OUT


	4. Berlin (I)

Part III: Berlin (1)

Inside an **exhibition hall, **Clark and Lois walk through a gallery full of men, both in civilian clothes and German uniforms, talking and drinking. We see a sign which says whatever is the correct German for 'New Architecture for a New Germany' (with that English translation appearing as a subtitle).

LOIS: We should split up, we'll get to talk to more people.

In **another part of the hall, **Clark idles along a gallery wall, his eyes glazing over a little. One sketch draws his attention and makes him stop and look: a proposed monument to the Axis alliance in the form of a great Pyramid, signed 'L Luthor.'

A GERMAN OFFICIAL appears at Clark's side, a soft-spoken but very definitive guide who wants to make absolutely certain he gets his points across. (Neither he nor any of the Germans should put on a Sgt. Schultz accent: especially Luthor.)

OFFICIAL: I see you are interested by Mr. Luthor's designs.

CLARK: Very much. It's quite impressive.

OFFICIAL: Yes, indeed! Now this pyramid will be made from a compound which Mr. Luthor also developed: it is the hardest, most durable material in the world. As you see, the Pyramid will sit on top of the Reich Deliberation Chamber, which is protected by an even thicker layer of 'Luthoron.' It will be quite impenetrable. I hope you will report this to your American readers?

CLARK: Yes...

OFFICIAL: To give them some sense of the state of our technology?

CLARK: How formidable...

OFFICIAL: Precisely. Precisely. Now of course you notice Mr. Luthor's work always has an artistic as well as a practical side.

CLARK: Like the symbolism of the statues at the three corners.

OFFICIAL: Precisely! The Russian infantryman, the Japanese sailor, the German pilot: earth, water, air...

CLARK: And each carries fire.

OFFICIAL: Pre-cisely.

And they do: menacing-looking thunderbolts.

CLARK: There's another engineering trick that looks very original.

OFFICIAL: Yes?

CLARK: The statues aren't plastered in place, they're bolted. So they're replaceable.

OFFICIAL: Beg your pardon?

CLARK: If the partnership ever changes; you can remove one, or both, and replace them with the new partners.

Clark looks thoughtfully at the sketch. The official looks thoughtfully at Clark.

OFFICIAL: Please excuse me. Enjoy the rest of the exhibit.

In **still another part of the hall, **Lois looks at a sketch of the proposed new Radio Berlin tower; it too is autographed 'L. Luthor.' A blurry image of a man facing Lois from the side sharpens into that of LEX LUTHOR, looking with a smug smile at Lois looking at his sketch.

Lois' face comes back into focus as she takes a quick side glance at Luthor. An instant's nervousness passes, and she begins to look at the sketch with more wide-eyed admiration than before as Luthor approaches her.

LOIS: Hello. I'm just admiring the artwork. Have you ever seen this kind of sweeping vision?

LUTHOR: Perhaps I have.

LOIS: Really? You're a fortunate man.

LUTHOR: You might say that... but no, that's not really the word I would choose. Fortune is another word for luck. I've discovered that none of the higher class of men –

Luthor turns every now and then to confirm that Lois is still hanging on his words. She does a proper job of nodding on cue and looking impressed.

LUTHOR: I'm talking about all of them, all through history - none of them have believed in luck; they believe in themselves, we believe sometimes in destiny, but not luck. Also, Fortune is supposed to turn a wheel, are you familiar with the iconography? she's a woman, very capricious; I don't like the idea of being in the hands of the woman...

Luthor's face darkens.

LUTHOR: ...being turned upside down, coming to a peak, then falling - many people take satisfaction in that, you know, the turn of the wheel, it assures them that their betters will get their comeuppance some day, will be taken down; not true of course, not true of all of us anyway, but for the many it's quite comforting.

His previous good cheer is now pretty well restored.

LUTHOR: You have to admire the psychological insight of whoever propagated that icon, it did good service for the higher men for a very long time but you were starting to say something about that intriguing little architectural sketch?

Lois quickly snaps herself back to attention after wandering off a bit during the rant.

LOIS: Oh, it's more than just an intriguing little sketch, I would say. It seems to capture some desire to conquer space.

Luthor tries to control his grin, but it's obviously hard.

LOIS: I've also heard that the artist is much more than a mere draughtsman; he's a man who bridges the worlds of art and science, in a DaVincian manner.

LUTHOR: Remarkably enough, I've heard the very same thing myself. Exactly the same thing.

LOIS: But very mysterious. A man with powers beyond those of ordinary men, who keeps his identity hidden. As a reporter, I would kill for a chance to talk with that kind of man.

LUTHOR: I commend you. It's absolutely necessary to have this zeal, in order to reach the higher level. Might I have your name?

LOIS: Oh, certainly. I'm Lois Lane, of the Daily Planet.

LUTHOR: I am Alexander, though I'm sometimes called Lex. (_He smiles._) Lex Luthor.

Lois' 'oh-my-goodness!' gestures are witnessed by Clark, who also sees Luthor. Luthor and Lois continue talking as Clark approaches.

Luthor's quick glance indicates he is aware of Clark's presence, but he makes no effort to acknowledge it.

LOIS: Mr. Luthor, this is Clark Kent, my colleague at the Daily Planet.

Luthor nods his head curtly, offers a millisecond smile, and turns back to Lois.

LUTHOR: That is always the challenge for the Renaissance man: to master both art and science.

CLARK: They sometimes also had a challenge in getting the support of their patrons.

Luthor turns and stares at Clark. For a long while. The condescending smirk settles into a firm sneer.

LUTHOR: I assure you, Mr. Kent, I have no such difficulties. It would be quite extraordinary if I did. My patron, as you call him...

CLARK: I didn't say you, specifically...

LUTHOR: ...is in full harmony with me. That is how our system works. Things are different, of course, in Kansas, oh yes, we've heard of the Daily Planet, we know a few things about its employees.

Luthor bows slightly to Lois, who returns it and smiles.

LUTHOR: But probably I should congratulate you on knowing the definition of 'patron.' I'm sure that not all young men reached that level of knowledge about the arts, in Kansas...

Lois gives an ostentatious chortle, and Clark is taken aback.

LOIS: You must admit, Clark, Smallville is not exactly the Athens of America.

CLARK: No, no. I certainly wouldn't compare it to Berlin either.

LUTHOR: But to come to your real point, Mr. Kent. There is no struggle between my 'patron' the Fuhrer and myself. Germany speaks with one voice. You will soon be able to hear that voice even back in Kansas, through...

he points with dramatic flourish to the Radio Towers sketch

LUTHOR: ...my humble efforts. Miss Lane, shall we discuss the interview?

LOIS: By all means.

LUTHOR: Mr. Kent, good day to you.

Luthor puts out his hand, and Clark takes it. Luthor bares his teeth a little and squeezes hard. Clark smiles back. Luthor sets his jaw and squeezes harder. Clark keeps smiling and shaking. Luthor disengages, scowls, and stalks away with Lois.

**Inside a car, at night; **Clark is driving, Lois in the passenger seat.

CLARK: I hope I didn't interfere with your interview prospects.

LOIS: No, he promised to give it to me in three months, when his busy schedule allowed it. I suppose I played the part of overwhelmed admirer well enough.

CLARK: Very well.

Clark is looking straight at the road. Lois turns to him.

LOIS: Clark, you didn't imagine for a moment that I was really looking for that psychopath's approval, did you? I thought you were the one with acting experience.

CLARK: I wasn't that good.

LOIS: How long have we been working together now - close to a year? We should be able to trust each other.

CLARK: Lois, of course I trust you. I guess I was just a little unprepared to be double-teamed on the subject of my wheatfield upbringing.

LOIS: Alright, my heartland friend. And I know you wouldn't try to put anything over on me either.

Clark can't help turning away a bit and wincing at the undeserved compliment.

**Inside Lois's apartment, **Clark and Lois sit at a table, studying the notes and papers spread out among them.

CLARK: What do you expect Luthor will want to show you at Radio Berlin?

LOIS: He's probably just hoping to see a look of rapture on my face as I climb up and down his great Tower.

Clark is red and open-mouthed.

LOIS (_laughing_): Close your mouth, Clark. I'm sorry, I didn't think you were quite that shockable. What about your story: is there going to be a follow-up on Luthor's power plant?

CLARK: I'd certainly like to look further. I'm convinced the information I was given about slave labor is true.

LOIS: Clark, please promise me that you'll be careful what you get into?

CLARK: I promise I won't get into anything unless I'm sure I can get out of it.

LOIS: Thank you! That's a good motto to keep in mind around here.

CLARK: So you'll promise to abide by it yourself?

LOIS: I didn't say that. But I will keep it in mind.

**Inside the Radio Berlin Tower, **Luthor and Lois, flanked by assorted German soldiers and officials, pass through a large hall.

Hives of workers at different stations (switchboard operations, paper sorting, banks of men with headphones on, taking notes while currency-measuring needles swing back and forth just over their heads) snap to attention as Luthor passes, then resume working furiously at their tasks.

Large portraits of Hitler and Luthor, separately and together, hang at intervals, looking down on the work.

LOIS: This has been fascinating, and I'm so grateful to you, but - could we go off the record for a while? I know a man like yourself has one story to tell the mass readership, but we both know that's not your true story don't we?

Luthor nods vigorously and appreciatively.

LUTHOR: For those with a little more understanding of how the world really works, there is another story which may be told.

LOIS: Thank you. Now this radio station communicates a kind of power, not the same as the generator outside the city, but the power to - how would you put it?

LUTHOR: To bend the attention, ultimately the will, of the many, in the direction desired by the higher men.

LOIS: The many in Greater Germany, or also in the United States?

LUTHOR: For now, we are primarily broadcasting cultural programs to the United States. But there is no need to dance around the obvious, not among ourselves; the U.S. is recognized by us as a potentially serious enemy, and a potentially valuable ally.

LOIS: Does Germany need more allies? Who would be left for a new ally to join against? Perhaps the old allies?

LUTHOR: That is always a possibility. Always. But let us not forget Canada, and the British bureaucrats there whom you recognize as the government in exile. And whose troop ships you helped to arrive there, in a rather un-neutral act. Of course your motives were transparent: you saw the opportunity to gain a bargaining chip to play against us, and you took it. Perfectly natural.

Luthor stops walking and looks very hard at Lois.

LUTHOR: But bargaining chips lose their value if not cashed in in time. You might wish to communicate that last point in particular. Not in the paper, to the many. But I think some higher men might be interested in hearing it. Your father, perhaps, who we know works in U.S. military intelligence.

LOIS: Yes I - think he would. We're almost at the end. Is there anything else you want to say, back on the record? Perhaps something about the power plant?

LUTHOR: You may quote me as saying 'We are all looking for maximum power.' Good day Miss Lane; it has been a genuine pleasure.

**Nighttime. **Clark is at the **power plant**, hiding from view. Carts bring finished heavy cables into a storage area. Clark traces the movement of the carts back to another building, a workstation, where men under armed guard work on large tables, splicing metal into cables. Other laborers bring the metal to the tables. Further back, more slave laborers work blast furnaces.

Two armed guards usher men **inside a barracks**, then bar the door from the outside and share a joke among themselves. Inside, people lie down, dispirited, on bunks. Sudden SCUFFLE heard from outside the barracks, then silence. Ears pick up. Clark enters through the main door, in ordinary clothes.

CLARK: Please listen carefully. You will all have a chance to escape tonight. Wait until you hear a commotion outside. There is a Resistance station you can go to, to help get you back home. I've written directions on these maps.

Clark drags in the bound and gagged soldiers.

CLARK: Two of you can take the uniforms and guns of these men, and lead the others out when you hear noise and shouting. I have to go now; show starts in about three minutes.

Clark leaves. Excited conversations and movements among the prisoners.

Back in the **power plant, **Superman makes a conspicuous entrance into the plant, smiles and nods at the incredulous guards, and strides purposefully but with no great haste past them towards the immense generator (about 40'x100'x60').

Guards quickly begin talking to one another. Three follow him, taking their guns out as they run towards him.

GUARD 1: You - You there!

Superman stops and lets them catch up to them.

GUARD 1: Who are you and what are you doing here?

CLARK: I'm Superman. I'm here to destroy the generator.

GUARD 1 (_gesturing with the gun_): You're coming with me.

Superman stands still. Guard 1 gestures to his two companions, who grab Superman's arms and attempt to march him back the way he came. He doesn't budge. Guard 1 places the gun at the back of Clark's head.

GUARD 1: Move! Now!

In a blur, Superman disappears from the 'circle' of the three, who are left pointing guns at each other. One looks ahead, shouts, and points to where Superman, his back turned to them and already about twenty yards ahead, has resumed his stride.

Guard 1 takes out and blows his **whistle**. More guards come scrambling, guns out. One presses a button on a wall, starting a continuing **klaxon** (which continues throughout the scene). More guards, hearing the klaxon, come running. Now a couple of dozen guards stand in Superman's way, about five feet away, with rifles.

GUARD 1: Fire!

They fire. Superman isn't there. Eyes swing back and forth. Superman is standing against a far wall. The guards fire freely. Superman runs back and forth from one end of the building to another, gunfire trailing him.

**On the outside**, we see guards come pouring in from every angle, automatic weapons at the ready.

As the German guards come rushing in, the prisoners we've seen earlier cautiously peek through the door and begin escaping.

**Back in the plant, **Superman resumes his purposeful stroll towards the far end of the generator. Guard 1 organizes the now dozens of guards into a firing formation.

Superman has stopped where he can lever the end of the generator to tilt it over. Guards open fire simultaneously on his back, making a terrific noise, and also a fireworks display as hundreds of bullets strike every square inch of his body and careen off.

Superman slowly turns as the fireworks continue, and smiles. The firing tapers off and ceases. **Klaxon** continues.

CLARK: Don't you believe in Superman?

Superman reaches the base of the generator. He spits on his hands, rubs them together, and begins to push.

Guards are paralyzed in fascination, except for some who have broken down crying and praying, and others who are only now arriving. Guard 1 snaps out of it first. **Klaxon** continues.

GUARD 1: Ready! Ready! Aim! Aim, you bastards, aim!

The guards respond. Superman stops his pushing to pose for the firing squad.

GUARD 1: Kill him!

The mass firing is even more furious, drowning out the Klaxon. Superman simply goes back to his task.

Putting his back into it, under a shower of noise and light, he heaves at the immense apparatus, which begins to tilt over. The firing begins to diminish. **Klaxon** continues.

CLARK: Now would be a good time to leave.

GUARD 1: Out! Everybody out!

Another push, and the generator topples.

It hits the ground with explosive force and a deafening crash, and a hundred lightning bolts of force fill the great hall. The **klaxon dies**. The guards who have been dashing away from the building look back at the sound, see blinding flashes of light and then fires pouring out.

Superman comes walking through the fires with the same purposeful stride, towards the guards. They fall back a little. Some make half-hearted gestures to aim their guns, but soon lower them.

Guard 1 has stood his ground, more to stare at the phenomenon than to make any futile attempt at stopping it. Superman stops and looks him in the face. Fire and sparks continue in the background.

CLARK: Pass the word along. Being a guard at a slave labor camp is not a good assignment.

Guard 1 nods.

**Superman's telescopic vision **shows the **escaped prisoners** well clear of the complex. He smiles and vaults off. The guards remain.

GUARD 1: It was an army of partisans. You all understand? A full battalion. They took us by surprise, overwhelmed us. Blame Intelligence for not picking them up.

That night, **in Lois's apartment, **Lois is reading and fidgeting. A knock is heard.

CLARK (_offscreen_): Lois, it's me.

Lois walks briskly to the door and opens it.

LOIS: Clark, come in, I was starting to get a little concerned. What have you been doing?

CLARK (_grinning_): This and that. How did the interview go with Luthor?

LOIS: I got to see roomfuls of people salute the great man with fear and trembling, and hear the great man salute himself with love and devotion. Now what have you been up to?

CLARK: Well, I didn't get to see Luthor, but I did see some of his work. I was at the power plant: it's in ruins. Superman was there.

Lois looks very intently at Clark.

LOIS: Superman is here? He's in Berlin now?

CLARK (_still grinning_): Indeed he is. It was quite a smash debut. I got to see the wreckage, even got to talk to some guards.

LOIS: Well. What a story! I'm happy you were there on the spot again. I tell you what, let's look over each other's notes, then you can give me more of the details.

CLARK: Sure.

They seat themselves around a table and exchange notepads. While Clark is happily humming and looking down at Lois's notes, Lois gives Clark a stare of surmise.

FADE OUT

In **Lois's Apartment, another day, **Lois and Clark attentively listen to a middle-aged woman (MRS. DIETRICH), distraught but not hysterical. On the table is a photograph and a piece of paper with a crude map penciled in.

MRS. DIETRICH: He treats people with burns; with the very worst kind of burns. He's the most devoted doctor.

She smiles for a moment and fondly puts a hand over the **photo** of a smiling middle-aged man.

MRS. DIETRICH: They told him they wanted his help in a big project. A Luthor project. It would answer questions about why some people survive with these kinds of burns, and some die. Naturally he was excited. He thought maybe this research could save hundreds of lives.

Clark and Lois nod in acknowledgment.

MRS. DIETRICH: Last week he told me: it isn't saving lives they are interested in. They want him to perform experiments. Not on people who are already burned.

LOIS: I understand. What did your husband say he was going to do?

MRS. DIETRICH: He was going to talk to other people in high places. Maybe they don't know what is going on there, when they find out they will stop it. I have not seen my husband since. I have asked and asked, nobody will say anything.

LOIS: Mrs. Dietrich, I wish I could tell you that we knew how to find out what has happened to your husband...

MRS. DIETRICH: But Miss Lane, you know Luthor, you have done an interview with him; that's why I came here - you can talk to him, get another interview, ask him...

LOIS: Even if he did grant another interview I don't know how I can get him to tell us...

CLARK: What about this map you've brought?

MRS. DIETRICH: He drew it. It shows how to get to the - experiments lab. There's an underground entrance, but it is heavily guarded. Maybe you could bring the map to somebody, expose the lab, or threaten to expose it...

CLARK: Mrs. Dietrich, I promise you that I will do everything in my power...

Lois gets out of her chair a little, a stern look on her face, and is about to address Clark. Then she holds her words and sits back down. Clark doesn't notice.

CLARK: ...to find out about your husband, and help him put a stop to what Luthor is doing.

LOIS: Maybe you should get back, before you're missed and people start asking questions.

MRS. DIETRICH (_resignedly_): Thank you for your time, Miss Lane; Mr. Kent.

Mrs. Dietrich leaves. As soon as the door is closed behind her, Clark turns to Lois.

CLARK: Lois, please don't try anything on your own.

LOIS: And you'll remember that motto about not getting into anything unless you're sure you can get out of it.

CLARK: Absolutely. Don't worry about me.

LOIS: Alright, I won't.

Clark looks a little surprised and disappointed.

CLARK: OK; good. So, I'll see you tomorrow, Lois.

LOIS: Right, Clark. See you later.

That night, Lois climbs down a metal ladder in an **underground passageway **to ground level. Only the faintest bit of light follows her, and the rest of the interior is virtually pitch black.

LOIS: Superman? If you're here, I know you can hear me. I'd like to come with you.

About three seconds pass.

CLARK (_offscreen, whispering_): Stay there, Lois.

Clark's whisper seems to come from some distance. It is a slow, deep growl which mostly disguises his voice. He continues to use it throughout the underground scenes, except where noted. Lois also speaks in a whisper (though a more natural one) throughout.

Lois peers through the darkness, but cannot see anybody. Clark's next words seem to come from a closer location, but he remains invisible.

CLARK (offscreen): Please, speak as softly as you can. There may be listening devices. How did you know I would be here?

LOIS: I'm afraid I can't tell you; it's a reporter's secret.

CLARK (offscreen): Stay exactly where you are. Will you do that? If you don't, I don't think I can - finish what I have to do. I promise that I'll come back for you.

LOIS: I promise, Superman. Good luck.

CLARK (offscreen): Thank you, Miss Lane.

We are in **a laboratory; the middle room of three**. The left wall has slot windows, allowing glimpses of soldiers with automatic weapons in the outer room, their backs turned to the lab. Against the right wall is an **inner sanctum protected by heavy gray metal**.

In this room, six SS men sit with their weapons doing nothing, three or four scientists perform their business and Luthor walks back and forth inspecting their work.

There is a sudden CRASH from the direction of the outer room (left) as of a wall being punched through, followed immediately by the sounds of shouts, scurryings and weapons fire. Soldiers rush back and forth across the area visible through the window slot.

LUTHOR: We're under attack! Evacuate!

The scientists gather their notes and run to an exit, back. The SS men jump out of their seats and point their weapons, not towards the action at the left, but towards an unseen target in front. Noise and shots from outside continue, but less vigorously than before. ALARM sounds.

LUTHOR: Remember: if the enemy breaks in, under no circumstances can the subjects be allowed to give testimony against Germany.

The SS men nod, expressionless. Sounds from the outside room are diminishing. Luthor retreats to the **inner sanctum**, a plush little luxury studio, with Luthor's own architectural sketches dominating the walls. Luthor flips an intercom switch. GUNFIRE is heard through it, which diminishes and dies. ALARM continues. Then a BOOM of another wall being broken.

LUTHOR (_to the intercom_): Dispose of the subjects!

**Cut, back to the laboratory. **Superman bursts through the left wall.

The angle changes to show Superman now looking straight towards us, taking in the scene in front of him:

To the right, forming a 'gauntlet' running from us to him, is the line of six SS men, each with his gun pointed at one of the 'subjects' to the left, each in his own cage.

The SS men have just made the last motion of readying and aiming, and their fingers are about to squeeze the triggers. Superman is some distance from even the closest SS man, and would have to plow through all six instantaneously in order to prevent any shots from reaching their targets.

A blast of reddish light, originating in Superman's eyes, fills the screen. The guards do not even have time to scream. The ones closest to Superman are almost annihilated. Only those furthest from him - the ones closest to us - retain a horribly scorched skin hanging off bone. (ALARM continues.)

Superman looks at what he has done.

He walks unsteadily forward, continuing to look at the bodies in horrified fascination. He turns his face away from them, doubles over and is sick.

LUTHOR (_offscreen_, _through the intercom_): Have they broken in? Why is there no firing? Report!

Superman looks at the subjects in their cells. They all have terrible burn scars, localized on different parts of their bodies. One of them is Dr. Dietrich. (ALARM continues.) Luthor's voice comes through the intercom:

LUTHOR (OS): Take no chances; kill them now! Do you hear me, kill them now!

Clark's X-Ray vision shows Luthor within the sanctum, screaming the order to kill.

In wild-eyed rage, Superman runs to break down the inner metal wall. (ALARM continues)

**Cut back to the inner sanctum. **Luthor hears the BANG of something pounding on the impenetrable 'Luthoron' door, and sees a significant indentation. He jumps back in surprise.

LUTHOR: What the devil?!

**Cut back to the lab; **Superman makes another run at the door, and bends it some more. ALARM continues.

He looks at the subjects, who are looking at him. Looks back for a moment at the door, then abandons it.

He breaks down the subjects' cells and guides them out, helping those too weak to walk on their own.

**In the underground passageway, **Lois stands in the darkness. She hears the movement of several feet. Clark continues to disguise his whisper with the 'growl.' Both characters speak the following dialogue in whispers.

CLARK: I'm back. We have to get these people to safety - I didn't think it through, I just rushed in - how are we going to get them all out, where will we take them?

LOIS_: _Is anybody following us?

CLARK_: _Not now, but we should still be quiet. Luthor must have called out the entire SS, and I don't know when they'll get here. I can't defend you all against every shot...

LOIS_: _Superman, listen. I studied the city layout very carefully: I know where we are. I can tell you how to get to the U.S. Embassy from here, and we can come up through the basement.

CLARK: I killed them. I didn't want to—

For a moment Clark has reverted to his normal voice, then covers it again.

CLARK: I've never killed anybody before.

LOIS_: _You killed - do you mean the guards?

CLARK_: _Yes. They would have killed all of them.

LOIS: Did you have a choice?

CLARK: No, I couldn't see any other – No.

There is a pause, and Lois gropingly reaches out her hand towards his. She finally finds it.

LOIS: We go this way.

Lois guides Clark along.

From **beneath the Embassy, **Superman uses heat vision to open a hole in the 'ceiling.'

Sounds of surprise and alarm from embassy people above.

LOIS: We have refugees. We have to hurry; we'll explain later.

Superman lifts the escapees up to sanctuary, trying to keep out of the light flooding down from the Embassy.

LOIS: I'm not sure why you're hiding: I have seen your face, Superman.

CLARK (_anxiously_): Have you?

LOIS: Yes, in the sketch Clark Kent drew.

CLARK (_with relief_): I see.

LOIS: I also saw you when you saved me from Kurtzman.

CLARK: But you didn't get a good look at me then.

LOIS: That's true; how did you know? But I suppose with your vision, it's easy to know those things. I'm glad to have a chance now to talk to you about that. I feel very privileged, that Superman would make an appearance just to rescue me.

CLARK: I would do it any time, Lois.

Again Clark has almost let the disguise of his voice drop.

LOIS: Thank you. Oh, actually two people; Clark Kent was there too. I guess we both forgot him. I feel so embarrassed: he is a good friend, but sometimes he is easy to pass over.

CLARK (_after a pregnant pause_): I have to go.

LOIS: I'm afraid you'll have to help me up first.

He does so, from behind, and when Lois has gained purchase on the floor she tries turning around rapidly, but of course Superman is gone by then.

LOIS: I'm sure I'll see you again, Superman.

**Inside his apartment, **Clark types a letter, which we then see:

'Dear Mom and Dad; You know there are things I can't say openly, because I can't be sure this isn't being intercepted. But one thing I know: Luthor has a very strong enemy in Germany now, somebody who has the power to take him down hard. The only question is just how painful it's going to be for him.

'On a more personal note, it's sometimes hard to know where I stand with Lois. I feel most of the time that she at least likes and respects me, but recently I overheard her saying she found me 'easy to pass over'.''

Back to live action; Lois knocks and enters.

LOIS: Clark, I wanted to get your opinion on something. You know I've been coming to really count on our friendship.

CLARK: That means a lot to me, Lois. Sure, I'd be glad to tell you what I think.

LOIS: Shall we take a walk outside?

She points around the room and mimes 'listening.' Clark nods, takes his jacket and exits with Lois.

The pair are walking through **a park**, and Lois is far more flirtatious towards Clark than she has ever been before: taking his arm, batting her eyes at him.

LOIS: Why don't we walk towards the Prince Frederick monument. Have you ever been there?

CLARK (_taking a quick glance_): No, but that's fine. So what's the question?

LOIS: I've been doing some thinking about recent events, and I think I have the basis for a very important story. But I want you to tell me if there's any flaw in it. Here's the outline.

Lois hands him the paper. He reads:

_1939 Clark Kent arrives in Metropolis / Superman first seen there;_

_1941 Clark Kent taken prisoner by Kurtzman / Superman takes down Kurtzman;_

_1941 Clark Kent at World's Fair / Superman sighted at World's Fair;_

_1942 Clark Kent in Berlin / Superman in Berlin. / _

_1943 Clark Kent finds out about Luthor's labor camp/power plant / Superman destroys power plant;_

_1943 Clark Kent finds out about Luthor's medical experiments / Superman destroys Luthor's lab._

Reading the lines back and forth, the words '_Clark Kent/Superman_' come into repeated focus, the rest blurring.

LOIS (_flirtatiousness gone_): So, Clark, what do you think?

CLARK: What in the world are you suggesting, Lois?

LOIS: First I want to know: if I ask a question, will you give me an honest answer?

CLARK: I'll do my best - I mean, like anybody, there are some questions maybe I'd rather not answer. But I wouldn't want to lie to you.

LOIS: I do believe that, Clark. I believe that you don't like lying. And that's actually what helped make some things fall into place. But there are all kinds of deceptions besides verbal ones, you know. For example, what do you call it when a man wears glasses even though he has eyes like a hawk?

CLARK: What are you talking about?

LOIS: You've never been to the Prince Frederick monument, but you immediately turned the right way when I suggested it. You knew the way because you saw the sign. I would need binoculars to read that sign from here.

CLARK: But we were going that way already.

LOIS: No, Clark. I deliberately stopped at the crossroad and waited for you to look around. And I'm sorry for distracting you so you wouldn't really think of what you were doing, but I guess it worked, didn't it? (_Pause_.) Which also helps confirm another theory, though I've been pretty certain about that one for some time now.

Clark opens his mouth and closes it again.

LOIS: Back to your not wanting to lie to me. Do you remember the first time we met, when I asked you if you had seen Superman? You didn't say 'I've never seen him,' you said 'I've never seen him in action.' I didn't really make much of it at the time, but that's a rather peculiar way of putting it, wouldn't you say?

CLARK: Well, I haven't ever seen him in action.

LOIS: Have you ever seen Superman, Clark?

CLARK: I've never seen him directly.

LOIS: 'Never seen him directly'? You're a reporter, you know what it means when people give those kinds of answers! You've seen him from the side, perhaps? You've seen his back?

CLARK: No, Lois, I can say without equivocation that I have never seen Superman's back.

LOIS: Isn't it interesting that that's the question you are ready and eager to give a straight answer to! You've never seen him 'directly' because looking in a mirror isn't 'directly,' is it, Superman? But even Superman can't turn around fast enough to see his own back, can he? Not even in a mirror!

Clark sputters in frustration, turns away and walks a step or two. Lois puts her arms on his shoulders as if to hold him from running away. Clark turns back to her.

CLARK: Look, Lois, I'm sorry; I've been teasing you, and I shouldn't have. You know it's such a tempting fantasy, to pretend you have some special secret about yourself...

Lois isn't looking at or listening to Clark, she is staring down at her own right hand. Clark stops and looks down too. In her open palm is a **steel pin** that has been bent in half.

LOIS: You didn't even feel that.

Clark looks at Lois, who is still staring at the pin.

LOIS: You know up till this moment, I still didn't really believe it. I had it figured out; I didn't see how it could be any other way; but I didn't really believe it, can you understand what I mean?

CLARK: Don't write this story, Lois.

LOIS: Are you going to stop me, Superman?

CLARK: How can I?

LOIS: Well, you could kill me.

He looks at her in horror.

CLARK: Don't say that! You can't...

LOIS: Of course I didn't think you actually would, or I never would have done this. But you could easily have said it anyway. You say 'Lois, you know what I can do, and you know that no power on earth could possibly protect you, or catch me and punish me.' That's true isn't it?

CLARK: I guess it is.

LOIS: Well, why not say it then? Lie to me, try to frighten me.

CLARK: I wasn't brought up that way.

LOIS: You weren't brought up that way? What does that mean? Mama Superman and Papa Superman gave Baby Superman a Superspanking if he...

CLARK: No, no, no, you don't understand...

LOIS: Well help me; help me understand this whole fantastic situation! Why does Superman spend so much of his time disguised as Clark Kent, pretending to be a Kansas farmboy turned mild-mannered reporter?

CLARK: Lois, I am Clark Kent! I am a Kansas farmboy! I'm just Superman on special occasions, when it looks like there's a job for Superman. That's why I'm asking you not to write this story. It would ruin my life. Let's go back, I'll try to think of how to tell you as we go.

They are still walking around the park. Clark looks down, looks up, looks at Lois, she looks encouragingly at him, he looks down again.

Two men approach. (The frame and movements should duplicate what happened in Clark and Lois's first walk together, when they were interrupted by Kurtzman's goons.)

GESTAPO HEAVY: Mr. Kent, Miss Lane, come with us in the car. Mr. Luthor wants to do an interview with you.

They enter the car without any fuss.

**Inside the moving Gestapo car, **Clark and Lois are again framed by gunmen.

LOIS: Do you have a feeling of deja vu?

CLARK: Come to think of it, yeah.

LOIS: I remember the first time we had a ride like this, you were very positive that we were going to be alright. How did you know?

CLARK: Oh, just a feeling I had.

They are smiling more and more broadly at one another. The Gestapo men look a little bewildered.

LOIS: Do you have a similar feeling now?

CLARK: Very much so. A little stronger, even.

He hesitantly takes her hand in his.

LOIS: Good. That's good. (_She turns to the driver_) Can you go any faster, driver? We're rather anxious to get the interview started.

In an **interrogation room, **Clark and Lois are in heavy chairs, in heavy restraints. Armed men around them. Luthor examines some instrument of interrogation. A Gestapo man hands Luthor a sheet of paper, which he reads.

LUTHOR: 'a very strong enemy in Germany now, somebody who has the power to take him down hard.' (_He puts the paper down._) This is really disappointingly childish. Not only indulging in fantasies about how your imaginary playmate is going to come to the rescue but actually writing it down. Your poor parents. I don't think we'll send this to them.

He picks the letter up again

LUTHOR: 'The only question is just how painful it's going to be for him.' (_puts it down_) And how much pain can you comprehend? You think you know, say, a hundredth as much about it as I do?

CLARK: I think we both still have a lot to learn.

LUTHOR: I have never turned down an opportunity to learn more about this subject, and I'm not going to turn this one down now.

Clark looks at the SS men around him.

CLARK: Don't your men know who we are?

LUTHOR: They don't know, and they wouldn't care if they did know. I don't imagine they taught you the phrase in Kansas, 'aut Caesar, aut nihil.'

CLARK: 'Either Caesar, or nothing.'

LUTHOR: It's a phrase which has always stuck with me. Things will go at least a little easier for you if you acknowledge the fact that in here, you are nothing. And I am Caesar.

CLARK: And of course nothing is more powerful than Caesar.

Luthor glares. He angrily returns to conspicuously inspecting the instruments.

LOIS: You don't seem worried that Superman might come to rescue us.

LUTHOR: Please, Miss Lane, no need to keep up the act now. It was a splendid propaganda invention for keeping Resistance morale alive; invincible hero comes from nowhere and strikes against Germany. As one manipulator of the masses to another, I sincerely applaud you.

CLARK: So you don't believe in Superman.

LUTHOR: There will be a whole army of Supermen some day, but they will come from the labs we will rebuild after they were sabotaged, and the subjects we will obtain to replace those that were abducted. And that is why you are here, to tell us about that operation. Was it American or British? And how did you get in contact with them? Miss Lane, since your father is in OSS...

CLARK: I don't think we need to answer your questions, Luthor.

Clark is beginning to get up out of his restraints; Luthor doesn't notice, but Lois does.

LOIS: (_to Clark_) No, wait a minute. (_to Luthor_) You know that the embassy is going to be asking about us; you know this would be a big problem for German-American relations. But now that doesn't seem to matter. I think something has happened, or is going to happen, that's changed your calculations.

Luthor smiles at Lois and glances disdainfully at Clark.

LUTHOR: Tell me, Miss Lane, does Kent here contribute anything to this reporting partnership or is he just the typist? Of course you're right. In twenty four hours the Axis will be at war with the United States. Much of the planning is mine. All of the new weapons are mine. I personally insisted on making the Daily Planet building target number one for my new long-range missiles. It is over, Miss Lane. The only thing you can save now is your own lives.

Lois and Clark look at each other.

LOIS: This certainly seems like a 'special occasion,' doesn't it?

A snort of laughter bursts from Clark.

LUTHOR: Is hysteria setting in already? Good, that always makes interrogations go faster.

CLARK: No, I was thinking of a joke.

LUTHOR: Oh, wonderful! I bet I can top it. (_to the guards_) We'll start with him. Strip him.

Angle on **Luthor**, leaving Clark and Lois off-screen. With his back turned away from Clark and Lois, Luthor checks an instrument. Sound of Clark's shirt being ripped.

GUARD (_offscreen_): What's this underneath?

CLARK (_offscreen_): So, Luthor comes to the Fuhrer and says, 'I have good news, and I have bad news. The good news is, after all our work, the Superman has arrived!'

Luthor obliviously goes on checking the instrument.

LUTHOR: I'm laughing already, just imagining how funny the punch line will be! 'And the bad news?'

Luthor turns to bring the instrument down hard on Clark on the word 'bad'. It shatters. Clark bursts the restraints and stands up. Luthor's incredulous stare takes in the Superman uniform now visible beneath the torn clothes.

CLARK: He isn't German.

Clark rushes over to free Lois. He decides it is quicker to simply pick her up, chair and all.

LUTHOR: Shoot them!

Clark covers Lois from the bullets and vaults away with her **through a wall**...

**through another room**, where other soldiers barely have time to look up in fright...

and then **through a window**, landing in an **outdoor lot** which shows cars and some more startled soldiers, who have just started to raise their rifles when Superman vaults up, up and away with Lois and her chair.

They descend, Lois in her chair looking down like the front-seat passenger of a roller-coaster, into **a wooded area** where Superman comes to a running stop. He removes the restraints, and she catches her breath.

LOIS: So, you know the line: 'Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive' – How true is it? Are you strong enough to beat an army? I know bullets won't hurt you, but what about heavy artillery? What about bombs?

CLARK: I honestly don't know; I have lived through the middle of a Kansas tornado.

LOIS: So did Dorothy, but I wouldn't ask her to take on a Panzer division. (_more serious_) Can you be killed?

CLARK: All men are mortal.

LOIS: Are you a man?

Clark scowls.

CLARK: I have limits, Lois. I've been getting stronger every year, and I don't think I've reached my full strength yet. I can still feel it when I hit something at high speed. I still get tired. And I've never taken on anything this big. But if I have to do something, I just know that I'll do it.

LOIS: That's what I wanted to hear.

CLARK: But even if I can beat a German army in Berlin, that doesn't stop the invasion of America. I can't just jump across the ocean; I can't fly...

Clark plainly feels the absurdity of this is self-evident.

CLARK: ...I can't run as fast as light.

LOIS: No; but radio waves can.


	5. Berlin (II)

Part IV: Berlin (2)

**Inside the Radio Berlin Tower, **Superman walks to an area filled with both soldiers and civilians, and adopts a thunderous voice:

CLARK: Ladies and gentlemen, I must ask you all to leave the building. I repeat, everyone leave the building, NOW!

People cover their ears. The civilians start running. Some of the soldiers take their hands away and point rifles.

**Cut to the outside of the tower; **Civilians are running out, some shrieking, through the main entrance. When they have finished, unconscious soldiers are 'bowled' outside along the ground after them. Lois walks calmly, against all this traffic, through the doors, made of the same gray metal 'Luthoron' we saw in the laboratory. They are slammed shut.

**Back inside, **Superman watches as Lois sets up at a **news desk**. She turns on the radio, where a soprano ARIA from 'Gotterdamerung' is continuing.

CLARK: You look at home.

LOIS: I had the insider tour, remember?

CLARK: I wish there was some other selection playing. It would be nice to have one of my favorite old records now, for luck.

LOIS: Why don't we go to the music room and see what they have.

**Outside another room, **Lois knocks and enters, Clark close behind.

GUSTAV, the disk jockey, has his headphones on, his eyes closed, and is 'conducting' the music, oblivious to what has happened at the station.

LOIS: Excuse me, do you happen to have 'John Henry,' the American folk song?

GUSTAV (_only a bit startled_): Yes I do, Fraulein, but you really shouldn't be here now; the opera will be over in only (_he glances at his watch_) four and a half more hours, we can talk then.

LOIS: My friend here is a really big fan of that song.

GUSTAV: I'm sorry but the program is on, I can't just leave it...

LOIS: But my friend is kind of big, and he's awful strong.

Superman picks up a heavy metal chair. One clap of his hands flattens it, and another clap reduces it to a ball.

GUSTAV: It is now request hour – request day - request week...

LOIS: Thank you so much. You'll put on the record at my signal, then? (_To Clark, authoritatively_) Come, Genie.

CLARK: Yes, mistress.

Gustav stares at their departing backs, and then searches intensely for the album.

**MONTAGE - FORCES ON THE MOVE**

\- Japanese ships with aircraft waiting on deck

\- Russian soldiers getting into tanks on a frozen field

\- Germans checking machinery around a giant missile

**Back in her newsroom, **Lois checks her own settings.

LOIS: The troops should probably be outside soon. I'll be OK; they won't be able to get through this metal and concrete, so you just- do what you have to do. You know they're going to throw everything they have at you, and...

CLARK: Lois; I can do this.

LOIS: I know you can.

She give him a long kiss. He returns it.

LOIS: OK, you know when to start?

CLARK: Never missed a cue in all my years on stage at Smallville High.

**Inside "The Bunker," a** thoroughly-enclosed war-room, uniformed men move triangles around on a large wall-map. Radio Berlin plays in the background, the soprano ARIA still on.

Luthor is haranguing the generals.

LUTHOR: I'm telling you, I saw him, he was right in front of my face, he snapped the restraints like straw...

Suddenly the Aria is cut off. Only a few people notice until:

LOIS (_as radio voice_): Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please. Ladies and gentlemen, there will be a change in programming. A very important announcement which concerns all Europe and America will follow.

An up-tempo version of 'The Ballad of John Henry' comes on. Shouting and confusion among Luthor and the General Staff. Again we hear the verse

'Gonna WHOP that steel on down, Lord, Lord!

'WHOP that steel on down...'

and on each 'whop' there is a BOOM audible from within the bunker. Consternation.

LUTHOR: It's the creature, didn't I tell you?

Babble diminishes as Lois comes on the air again. (BOOM continues)

LOIS (_as radio voice_): This is Lois Lane on Radio Berlin. This reporter has learned, from a source high in the German government, that an Axis attack upon the United States is imminent, with German missiles to target Metropolis. I repeat...

She does repeat, but is drowned by more hubbub: Who is the traitor? Who told her? How did she get on the air? (BOOM continues)

LOIS (_as radio voice_): For those who are naturally wondering how an American reporter can be issuing this alert over German radio, I can give you the answer in a word: Superman. Superman is now in Berlin, outside the bunker where the rulers and planners of Germany - including, presumably, the Fuhrer himself - make decisions. Those of you with television capacity may now see for yourselves.

The TV in the bunker is turned on, showing a small, grainy black-and-white picture of Superman hammering at the pyramid. (We see the Pyramid from an angle looking down, apparently the longest telephoto shot from a considerable distance, since the Pyramid fills only about a quarter of the screen. Superman is only about one-tenth the height of the Pyramid. This 'TV VIEW' frame remains constant through the ensuing scenes, though the action within it of course varies.)

Several soldiers lie prone around Superman. The wall is now starting to buckle, and the BOOM is now clearly in time with his blows.)

LOIS (_as VO on the TV_): Superman plans to pierce the bunker, confront the Nazi leadership, and demand that the invasion be called off. Citizens of this area of Berlin are urged to evacuate immediately; there may soon be a military confrontation between Superman and the German army. I will now repeat this message in German.

While she repeats, more angry shouts from within the Bunker, especially from Chief of Staff KESSLER, a straight-backed "old-school" type.

KESSLER: Is this one of your ploys, Luthor? Some display of your technical artistry to test the loyalty of Berliners?

LUTHOR: No, no, it's the creature; he is real, it's not an effect.

2ND GENERAL: Can he get through to the bunker?

LUTHOR: Luthoron will withstand direct hits from an all-out air raid by heavy bombers. Even getting through the upper Pyramid is essentially impossible: there is an outer and an inner pyramid, and each can withstand anything up to concentrated tank fire.

KESSLER (_looking at TV_): Good God!

**Cut to the scene outside the Bunker/Pyramid Place, **where Superman finishes tearing off the front door. Rather than entering, he holds the wide heavy door up for the camera, in one hand.

**Inside the Bunker, **the TV VIEW shows the same. The generals bark orders into the phone.

**Cut back to the live action outside "Pyramid Place," **where a platoon now comes dashing down the street towards Superman. (The view we get of the action, here and in the future, will of course correspond to Lois' narration, with cuts between the TV view experienced from within the Bunker and normal cinematic color action at the director's discretion.)

LOIS (_as VO on the TV_): As you can now see - or perhaps not, if you only have radio - approximately fifty soldiers with automatic weapons are approaching in formation towards Superman. They've stopped now, about ten yards from him - the front line drops to its knees and both ranks open fire without warning. There is no effect. Plainly, they could not all have missed at that range. Firing again, now in automatic mode, for three seconds, four, five, six. No effect. Superman is holding up the door now like a giant shield - wait a moment: That was almost too fast for the eye to follow...

Meanwhile, **in a European pub, **people are gathered excitedly around the radio. The pub gets more and more crowded as a steady stream of people enter and head right for the radio area.

LOIS (_as radio voice_): ...it seems he just rushed the front rank and swept it away using that door like a broom. Two dozen or so soldiers are now lying apparently unconscious - some faint movement here and there - maybe ten to fifteen yards from where they were lined up, just swept aside like chaff.

People begin to cheer, looking around as they do.

And at the same time, **in the Kent home, **Martha is at the table. Jonathan answers a phone call, of which we hear little. His face suddenly becomes serious, and Martha looks at him.

JONATHAN: OK, Fred, thanks. (_He hangs up and turns to Martha_) Turn the radio on, try to find the news station. Something is happening in Berlin.

Martha finds the station.

LOIS (_as radio voice_): Some of the soldiers are trying to get to their feet, badly bruised. Superman is talking to the captain of the platoon...

Martha and Jonathan look at one another, worried.

Cutting **back to Lois's station...**

LOIS: ... telling his men to cease fire. Those who can walk are helping the others off the battlefield, if you can call it that.

Clark's voice comes through a station microphone.

CLARK (VO): Miss Lane?

LOIS: We are now receiving a direct report from Superman himself, via short-wave radio. Go ahead Superman.

From **outside Pyramid Place, **Clark speaks into a small transmitter. Soldiers are seen being carried off in the background.

CLARK: First, I was only trying to subdue the soldiers you just saw; I hope none of them were, were permanently injured, though I'm sorry, I can't guarantee that. I can tell you that there is a lot of activity in the bunker, a lot of phone calls, but I have been monitoring radio transmissions and I have not heard anything about the invasion being called off.

Cutting **back to Inside the Bunker...**

KESSLER: What does he mean 'monitoring'?

CLARK (on TV): And I can also tell you that Germany's leader is not taking part. The Fuhrer has abandoned his post, and I have to wonder whether he's sleeping, or hiding, but he isn't there. But whoever is in charge will be hearing from me in a little while.

An explosion of wrath and suspicion. How can he know that Hitler isn't there? A lucky guess? A spy? On their TV screen, Clark has moved inside the Pyramid. Their crosstalk is interrupted by BANGs, coming from closer range and thus louder now. Clark's voice (though not his picture) comes through the bunker TV.

CLARK (VO on TV): The General Staff doesn't quite believe that I can see what's going on under there, so I guess I'll have to convince them. Lex Luthor is now talking to another minister, trying to find some propaganda response to this. Now he realizes I'm talking about him and looks up. He opens his mouth; he closes his mouth; he opens it; he shouts and pounds the table...

Naturally we see all this as we hear Clark's description.

CLARK (VO on TV): Well, you get the idea. Now some while ago the Chief of the General Staff ordered some Panzers to head this way, and I can hear them approaching.

LOIS (VO on TV): And as our camera pans out, we can see many, many Berliners streaming out of their homes to head to the shelters, designed as air-raid shelters but certainly the best place to be now. We can begin to hear the rumble of the tanks ourselves, and the first of them is just coming into view...

**Outside, in Pyramid Place, **the tanks head towards Superman from all directions.

**Inside the Kent home, **Martha and Jonathan sit glued to the radio set.

LOIS (_as radio voice_): And - in one bound, Superman has come to the peak of the pyramid - I can't describe how easily he made that jump, like a boy hopping up on a knee-high bench –

Martha and Jonathan allow themselves a smile and a small cheer.

LOIS (_as radio voice_): The tank to Superman's back fires, but Superman simply drops back down to the ground before it reaches him. The shell has hit a building, punching a large hole in it...

**Back to the live action: **And on it goes.

Superman topples one tank like a turtle. Its comrade tries firing on Superman while he is pushing the tank over, and blows up the disabled tank.

Superman walks away from the explosion.

He rips off the wheels of a second, sending it careening.

He pulls a third down by its turret.

He toys with the fourth, drawing it to fire on the Pyramid, playing matador with his cape, then kicking it over as it 'charges.'

Another comes, and in a reversal of the famous footage of Tienanmen, it is the tank which tries to dodge side to side and backwards as Superman comes forward. This one he rolls up like a pancake.

**Inside the European pub, **peoples' shouts and cheers drown out Lois's descriptions of the above.

**Back to live action: **Superman walks into the Inner Pyramid. He continues hammering, breaching the inner door and pulling it off. **Inside the Bunker**, they can hear the hammering getting closer.

LUTHOR: Bring out my dragon tanks! My tanks will stop him!

KESSLER: We are holding them in reserve for the invasion of Russia, Luthor. You know that.

LUTHOR: We have to stop him! You saw what he did to our regular tanks!

**Inside the Kent House, **Jonathan and Martha sit riveted, full of nervous energy but smiling and keeping fingers crossed

LOIS (_as radio voice_): We are now seeing another group of tanks approaching, of a type I haven't seen before.

**Live action: **The supertanks approach. These are far larger, faster and more dangerous than the ones we have just seen, as shown when they plow through the tottering buildings on the way to Clark.

They coordinate their fire more accurately, making it difficult for Clark to dodge all their shells at once.

When Clark approaches one, it quickly rotates its turret 180 degrees, making it impossible for Clark to find a 'blind spot.'

Several times he is hit, and he feels it.

He cannot easily pierce the tank, and when he knocks it over it displays the remarkable ability to right itself.

**Inside the Bunker, **the Germans see the pictures and hear Lois's voice narrating the above.

LUTHOR: Tell them to turn some of their fire on the radio station. Maybe we can shut the woman up.

Kessler nods and makes a call.

**Live action: **Two tanks turn and fire on the Radio Tower, which shakes. Superman turns his attention to those.

He disables one by sealing the cannon with heat vision while tearing apart another by hand, slowly, but that gives two others the chance to converge on him at high speed.

One hits him with a shell, knocking him flying, the other follows up and rolls over him, then rapidly back and forth over the spot.

**Inside the Bunker: **TV shows the tank rolling over Superman, all in the room exult. Then silence as...

LOIS (VO on TV): The tank has stopped. Now we see one end rising in the air...

**Live action: **Now the whole tank is lifted in the air and we see Superman beneath. He helicopters the tank then hurls it at its comrade, destroying both.

More tanks come and this time he picks one up by the tail and hurls it high enough that the crash landing destroys it.

The other tanks get the message and retreat.

**Inside the Bunker, **the Germans hear the hammering resume, and now Clark's singing is audible:

CLARK: "John Henry told his Captain,

'Looka yonder what I see -

Your drill's done broke

an' your hole's done choke,

It can't drive steel like me,

Lord, Lord,

It can't drive steel like me."

The room shakes; dents are beginning to appear in the ceiling.

MONTAGE – THE 'JAIL BREAK'

\- A crowd in a London pub

\- A crowd in a Paris cafe

\- A crowd in a Warsaw restaurant

All are pounding their tables and shouting "SU-PER-MAN; SUP-ER-MAN!"

**Inside the Bunker, **the hammering picks up the beat of the table-pounding we have just heard.

LUTHOR: Send in the bombers!

KESSLER: No; enough; the city is being destroyed!

LUTHOR: Let it burn to the ground! If we can't stop that thing, we lose!

KESSLER: No, not without a direct order from the Fuhrer.

Luthor frantically makes a call.

LUTHOR: Mein Fuhrer, this is emergency one. Please, the Chief wants to talk to you.

Kessler picks up the phone

'HITLER'(VO on phone): Are you listening to me?

KESSLER: Yes, Mein Fuhrer.

'HITLER'(VO on phone): Well listen carefully and do not interrupt. You will follow Luthor's instructions absolutely to the letter. Do you understand?

KESSLER: Yes, Mein Fuhrer.

'HITLER'(VO on phone): Goodbye.

A hang-up click. Kessler makes another phone call.

**Live action: **The bombers come. The heavy explosions set Superman back.

Superman picks up a huge concrete slab and hurls it, discus-style, at the sky.

**Cut to the inside of a bomber in the sky; **an airman looks through the bombsight, as instruction and chatter go on. Down on the ground is a minuscule figure whose motion can barely be interpreted as a man throwing something. Then the concrete block almost instantaneously approaches and fills the view. The sighter turns and screams

SIGHTER: Bail! Bail!

The block impacts; the plane tumbles; the crewmen eject; the plane crashes.

Back on the ground, Superman picks up another block and begins to heave. More bombs fall around him.

**In a second bomber, **again the bombsight shows a small figure begin to throw something up. This time the reaction is much faster.

SIGHTER 2: Bank! Bank!

The block goes past the nose of the banking plane, missing by a good margin.

More bombs fall around Superman. He picks up another block, and hurls it.

**Inside another bomber, **the sighter looks up and calls

SIGHTER 3: Bank! Bank!

The block seems headed to miss, but then curves back and smashes into the head of the bomber. Tumble; eject; CRASH.

Back on the ground, Superman punches the air.

CLARK: Curve Ball! Strike Two!

But it is a mistake for him to stand and applaud himself, for he is rocked by more explosions which send him staggering.

CLARK: Stupid... showing off... not a game... Not over. Not over.

More bombs fall close to him. Finally a building collapses on Superman, burying him beneath the rubble.

For a long time the TV view shows an unmoving picture of the debris. Lois speaks in a tense but objective reporter's voice.

LOIS (VO on TV): It was the Bismarck building which collapsed, and Superman is somewhere underneath all the tons of debris.

**Inside the Kent home, **Martha and Jonathan listen.

LOIS (_on the radio_): There has been no movement now for about a minute. We do not know if Superman has survived.

Martha cries uncontrollably; Jonathan tries to console and encourage her.

LOIS (_on the radio_): For now the bombers are holding back, just circling over the wreckage of Berlin. Presumably they have been told not to cause any further destruction if their primary target has been – destroyed...

(_Pause._)

I'm not sure, but there might have been movement. Yes, there is definitely some movement in the spot where we last saw Superman.

**Live action: **The rubble explodes out as Superman unburies himself.

His blood up, Superman uses the buildings of Berlin as a giant staircase to the bombers. He vaults from the ground to the roof of a **tall building**;

Then in a larger leap to the peak of a tall **skyscraper**;

He lands with both feet and soars to **the sky**, where where he catches the end of **a bomber's wing.**

He strides out on the wing, taking in the fresh air and looking up at the blazing sun.

He approaches the cockpit, whose crew see him walking on the wing. They stare at him, at each other, open-mouthed.

Parachutes go off all around Superman, who has a runaway plane on his hands. He sees another bomber in the near distance.

Standing on the wing, with the "foam" of the clouds below him, Superman "surfs" the wing to guide it towards the other bomber.

Just before impact, he jumps out. The planes come together in a tremendous crash, and the shock of the explosion blasts Superman through the air. He tumbles towards a **tall building**, and grabs at the facade with both arms.

It breaks off, sending him falling towards another building, where he grabs at a gargoyle, which also breaks in his arms, leaving him cradling the man-sized grotesque in his arms. He throws it away as he falls, and hits the ground.

The fall has been partially broken, but is still pretty devastating.

More bombs fall around him and for a moment Superman decides on discretion, finding cover to catch his breath.

**Cut to Lois's station:**

LOIS: I am quite certain I saw Superman walk away from that fall. We cannot see him now, but . . .

A muffled BOOM, and the station shakes a little.

LOIS: You probably heard that; this building is apparently now target number two, after Superman.

Another set of BOOMs and a bigger shake.

LOIS: Lex Luthor himself assured me, back when we were friends, that his building could withstand almost anything, but if it turns out he was just full of hot air, well, you'll all know then why we've stopped broadcasting. It won't be voluntary.

**Cut back to Pyramid Place: **Superman sees the bombers congregating above the Radio Tower. It's starting to shake.

Once again Superman climbs the great staircase: from **building **to **building, **then away into the **sky**.

But this time the planes have climbed just out of range. Starting to fall, in frustration Superman begins spinning his arms, at super speed.

To his own surprise, his fall is arrested. Superman looks up at the sun, which seems to be drawing him up as he 'swims' in the air.

His arms at first are a circular blur but then settle, as if in a strobe-effect, into the familiar arms-out flying position we have seen on TV and movies. For the first time, Clark is truly flying.

His uniform, 'sensing' what is happening, assists: the cape expands into gliding 'wings', and his speed and maneuverability increase.

CLARK: So; I can fly. (_He banks towards us_) Wouldn't that impress the cows!

The "S" fills the screen and is gone, leaving only sky.

**Inside a bomber cockpit; **Straight ahead, over the controls, clouds race by on the bottom and blue sky on the top. Far off at 12 O'Clock is a small bluish shape hovering above a cloud.

Hubbub in the cockpit as they rapidly approach that figure.

It gradually becomes clear, to their consternation, that this is a human figure; it's Superman, running through the clouds right at them.

Everybody screams and bails.

In a side view of the collision, Superman tears through the plane, splitting it in half lengthwise as it flies.

Now Superman is Peter Pan the flying missile, taking out one plane after another: from the bottom, from the top, from the side. After a minute or so of this...

LOIS (VO on TV): The sky is now full of parachutes; planes are retreating from Berlin's airspace, and that space is now being commanded by one man, who seems to be hovering upright in the middle of the air. Incredible, but true, Superman is flying victorious over Berlin, having single-handedly defeated the armed forces of Germany.

**In a European street, **people are hanging their radios out the window with the volume turned up full, and others are pouring out in the streets, attacking the Gestapo with sticks and stones.

**Inside the Bunker, **near hysteria reigns now, crosstalk everywhere, many directing their ire at Luthor.

More HAMMER blows fall, and the generals cease their shouting. The metal ceiling is now plainly being bent in the two places where Clark has been hammering, and about to give way.

CLARK (_offscreen_): (_sings_) Oh, the Captain said to John Henry,/"I believe this mountain's sinkin' in," / John Henry said to his Captain, "Oh, my,/ Ain't nothin' but my hammer suckin' wind, Lord, Lord, / Ain't nothin' but my hammer suckin' wind." Time is running out, gentlemen. In fact...

Clark's fist finally breaks through.

CLARK: Time is up. Call off the attack!

More shouting among them.

LUTHOR: We cannot give in; we cannot submit; He can't hold out forever, sooner or later our troops will wear him down...

More arguments. A high pitched sound from above.

**Cut to outside the Bunker: **Superman pushes against the Pyramid. It gives way and moves along the ground under his impetus, leaving the bunker covered only by the (now damaged) 'Luthoron' roof.

He hoists the whole Pyramid onto his back like Atlas, then makes a run like a javelin thrower and heaves it straight into the air.

**Cut to inside the Bunker, **where, through the hole Superman has punched, it can be seen that the pyramid is coming down right on their heads. (Shot should duplicate, as much as possible, the house falling from 'The Wizard of Oz.') Everybody runs for a table to hide under, or a wall to clutch.

The upside-down pyramid crashes through the roof, though slowed enough by the reinforced metal (and by its own size) that it doesn't fall completely through the gap it has made; the point comes to a stop about five feet from the ground.

The allegorical statues of the Axis nations fall and shatter.

Superman leaps down lightly to the ground of the bunker. Some point guns at him, but the gesture is clearly perfunctory.

CLARK: I don't think anybody here is completely mad: or am I wrong?

Heads shake no, and the guns drop. Kessler picks up a phone. Luthor points a gun at Kessler.

LUTHOR: If you give that order I will shoot you.

CLARK: Yes of course I was wrong, I had forgotten for a moment you were here, Luthor.

Clark moves in a blur, and takes away the gun. When Luthor continues to try to reach Kessler, Clark grabs Luthor's hand and crushes it. Luthor falls to his knees in pain.

LUTHOR: You can't let this - unnatural creature destroy everything we have worked for.

CLARK: Everything you've worked for is oppression, treachery and cruelty. Maybe I'm an unnatural creature, but my nose and stomach are still working. Looks like yours aren't. I guess you get used to anything.

Some eyes look away from Superman's.

CLARK: Enough debate. Call off the attack. And bring Hitler here: I don't want him countermanding orders from wherever he's hiding.

Luthor begins laughing. All turn to him.

LUTHOR: Hitler – (_fighting to control his hysteria_) Hitler has been dead for almost a year! You've all been following a dead man's orders - MY orders! A tape recording here, a movie clip there, and the whole Reich raises its arms and salutes! I am the great and powerful wizard who keeps the corpse alive forever...

A gunshot. Luthor falls face down. A general, the smoking gun in his hand, looks down at the body with fury. The chief of staff picks up the phone.

KESSLER: This is Kessler. I am ordering code Winter. I repeat, code Winter. Cease movements and preparations on all fronts. All fronts. Confirmation code is four eight Gamma three one. I repeat, confirmation code is four eight Gamma three one. That is correct. Total cancellation.

**Inside the Kent House, **Martha and Jonathan are still keeping vigil at the radio.

LOIS (_as radio voice_): Superman has just come up with a German general whom I believe is Chief of Staff Kessler. Kessler is holding something up at our camera. It is a white flag.

Jonathan and Martha do a dance of celebration.

**Inside the Bunker, **Clark is talking to Kessler.

CLARK: I suppose Luthor told you all exactly how we met, and who I am.

KESSLER: No, nothing. He just kept screaming about 'the creature, the creature was coming for him.' It was all we could do to get him to speak in a human language.

**Inside Lois's station, **Lois turns from her report to see Clark walking towards her. He is not looking as upright and forceful as before, but gives her the thumbs up sign.

LOIS (_To the radio mike_):Superman has just personally confirmed that the invasion has been called off.

Clark pantomimes "you" "talk" "me" "fly" "away"

LOIS: And he says he will be off now; perhaps he will be seen next in Moscow or Tokyo. We will take a break. I will be back with further news as it develops.

Lois puts on some music, then runs to hug Clark.

CLARK: Not so hard.

LOIS: Sorry.

Lois pulls back, then surprise comes to her face as she realizes Superman isn't supposed to feel a strong squeeze.

CLARK: I think I have a few broken ribs. And my head's swimming badly. I've got to lie down.

Lois helps him into another room, and closes the door behind them.

LOIS: Superman, do you think you have a concussion? If you do, you should try to stay awake.

CLARK: Sorry, you're fading out on me. It's all hitting me at once, I guess.

His knees wobble and he can't keep his eyes open.

CLARK: Never finished the song.

LOIS: Superman, try to keep walking - the song, what song?

CLARK (_singing_): "They took John Henry to a hillside, / He looked to the heavens above; / He said, "Take my hammer and wrap it in gold, / And give it the girl I love, Lord, Lord, / Give it to the girl I love."

He falls, unconscious. Lois keeps him from hitting the floor, pulls him to a couch. She looks down to see him bleeding from nose and ears, then leans down to listen to his chest. Raises herself up and holds his hand to hers.

LATER

Clark wakes up; he is lying on the couch, now in normal "Clark Kent" clothes, glasses and all. He picks up a soup bowl from the table by his head and discovers it is empty. Lois enters, sees he is up, and goes to him with relief.

LOIS: Finally! How are you feeling?

CLARK: Much better. Pretty much OK, actually. How did -? (_gestures to his clothing_)

LOIS: That came from one of the closets here. I didn't want to take the chance on anybody coming in and seeing Superman lying unconscious; so... The uniform is in my purse.

Lois opens her purse to confirm that fact. Clark takes a moment to consider the implications of this information.

CLARK: How long was I out?

LOIS: About thirty six hours.

CLARK: Thirty six -?

LOIS: You have quite an ability to heal yourself, Superman. Five ribs were broken but (_she checks them_) they're alright now. I suppose all the soup I poured down your throat didn't hurt either.

CLARK: The invasion?

LOIS: Superman, that show you put on here did more than stop the invasion. People under occupation are fighting back all around the world. The Axis armies are demoralized, and the leadership has vanished. Not just the Nazis; Stalin and the whole Politburo, Tojo and the rest, they've all fled. I suppose they decided they'd better get out before somebody dropped a house on them.

CLARK: What about you, Lois; how have you been doing?

LOIS: I've been holding down the station. It turns out Gustav had stashed away quite a collection of Gestapo-disapproved music. Duke Ellington, Gershwin, Cole Porter, Louis Armstrong. There's hope for the future Germany.

CLARK: German radio has been playing jazz and show tunes for the last day and a half?

LOIS: Well, it is Radio Berlin.

Lois turns on the radio, which is now playing Irving Berlin ("Top Hat"). Clark gets up and invites Lois to dance. They talk while (in fairly formal style) they dance.

LOIS: But we have had time for news also. We're linking up with BBC and CBS to put together a real world news network. I've become an overnight sensation, you might say. I definitely get top billing on any future articles or books.

CLARK: I see this is working out pretty well for you.

LOIS: Yes, but you don't have to treat me as a prima donna. In fact I'll still consider accepting your offer of your gold hammer.

CLARK: My gold hammer...?

Clark rapidly sings/mumbles his way through "John Henry" and stops dead when he realizes he must have sung "gonna give my gold hammer to the girl I love" to Lois while delirious.

CLARK: Oh God.

LOIS: Don't worry, Superman. I wouldn't try to hold anybody responsible for things they said under the influence of Luftwaffe bombing.

Clark still doesn't quite trust himself to open his mouth.

Lois turns down the radio.

LOIS: Now that Superman is back on his feet, I bet millions of people would like to say thank you to him. You could take a tour of Warsaw, Prague, Paris, London - Superman is king of the world now. What do you say?

Clark was looking happy and excited, until her last sentences. Now his face drops and his jaw sets. He claws at his ears, as he has a **vision** of his father calling to him. The Ghost of Jor-El's Head appears.

JOR-EL: She is right, my son. This is your great opportunity.

CLARK (_offscreen_): No.

JOR-EL: The world will gladly be at your feet; you can shape it to any form you want...

Other images flash: Madman Skowron demanding a kiss on the feet, Kurtzman preparing to 'reshape' his victims. This continues through Lois' speech.

LOIS (_offscreen_): Superman, if you're worried about people seeing your face, remember that nobody in London has ever seen Clark Kent; and besides, at some point aren't you going to stop playing Clark Kent...

His face red with anger, Clark smashes the table, shouting "NO" in a voice which almost blows Lois backwards, then turns around and tries to close his eyes, breathe deeply, and calm himself. Echoes of words in Jor-El's voice (which is, of course, basically Clark's voice) continue for a few moments, but they grow quieter and finally cease.

Meanwhile, Lois' face has gone white and she starts instinctively backing away, then holds her ground and looks at Clark. Fear, concern and incomprehension.

CLARK: Lois, I'm sorry; I'm sorry; I wasn't really yelling at you, I was yelling at...

He stops as he realizes, from the look on Lois' face, that this is not the most promising beginning for a speech of reassurance.

He sits back down on the couch. She sits beside him.

LOIS: It's alright. I don't know what just happened to you. And I realize I can't really expect to know how Superman perceives the world, or what goes on in Superman's system...

CLARK: Lois, you're got it almost completely backwards...

LOIS: Well, let me finish and then you can explain. The point is, there's a lot I don't know about you, but I know you wouldn't hurt me.

CLARK: Good. That's a start.

LOIS: Alright. But I certainly won't suggest the tour of Europe again.

CLARK: Oh, I'd love to tour Europe, but not as Superman. I'm just going to remain myself for a while.

Lois is a little surprised at Clark's emphatic "myself."

LOIS: Actually that's all for the best, because Lane and Kent still have a lot of reporting work to do here. But after our assignment is over in Europe, you just want to fly back to Metropolis?

CLARK: I don't know; I'm not sure if I could keep my arms flapping that long.

Lois stares at him, striving to look disapproving.

CLARK: Well, I keep discovering new powers; heat vision, flying, comedy.

LOIS: Keep repeating to yourself, Superman: "Flying is easy; comedy is hard."

Now she breaks down and laughs. Her eyes regain their sparkle, and the sparkle catches Clark in a vulnerable spot. He is obviously tempted to kiss her, and she is obviously ready to let him give in to temptation. But he pulls back.

CLARK: I'm thinking of another spot actually, which I'd like to take you to see.

LOIS: Where is that?

CLARK: Smallville, Kansas. You could meet my parents.

Lois looks a little surprised.

CLARK: I didn't mean it in the - you know, "take her home to meet your" - that is not yet anyway...

LOIS: Stop stammering. And stop blushing. Alright, you can blush if you like. No, I understand. I think. And if I ever do end up writing that story on Superman and Clark Kent, I certainly need to do some research.

There is a knock on the door.

LOIS: Come in, Gustav!

GUSTAV (_poking his head in_): Miss Lane, I have the record list for tomorrow's broadcast ready.

LOIS: Thank you very much, Gustav. This is Clark Kent, my co-worker.

Clark waves and says hi, but tries not to show his face.

GUSTAV: How do you do, Mr. Kent. And Miss Lane - the Genie is not coming back anytime soon, is he?

LOIS (_glancing at Clark_): No, Gustav, the Genie will be back in his bottle for a while.

Clark does not look pleased by this characterization.

GUSTAV: That's good.

Gustav turns to leave.

LOIS: Gustav?

GUSTAV: Yes, Miss Lane?

LOIS: Didn't you listen to this station's news report on Tuesday?

GUSTAV: Oh, this station has news reports?

(_Pause_)

LOIS: Good night, Gustav.

FADE OUT


	6. Smallville Again

Part V: Smallville Again

As the train comes in to **Smallville Station**, Clark and Lois see waves of people bearing banners welcoming the hometown hero: Clark Kent the well-known Axis-braving reporter. Jonathan and Martha are there of course, and there is hugging and kissing.

JONATHAN: You had your mother a little worried for a moment.

Martha starts crying again, then punches Jonathan for setting her off. Among the crowd trying to shake his hand, Tim from High School pushes through.

TIM: Hey, Clark, remember me?

CLARK: Sure Tim, how are you doing?

TIM: Wow is that really Lois Lane? Hi Miss Lane, I'm Tim Grassley. Wow, you're as beautiful as your voice. Moving in high circles now, Clark! Hey, you know we're really proud of you, the way you stood up to the Krauts. They must have put you through hell. What did they do to you exactly?

CLARK: Well, I'd rather not go into the details.

TIM: Oh, come on, you can tell me.

LOIS: The Germans broke five of his ribs. He was bleeding and unconscious when I saw him, but he didn't give in.

TIM: Wow.

He looks at Clark with added respect.

TIM: You're OK, thespian!

**In the Kent home, **Clark, Jonathan and Martha take Lois inside the living room.

LOIS: So you're real!

MARTHA: Well, of course we're real, dear. (_She looks at Lois's chest_) And what about you?

LOIS: I know, it's just still hard to picture Superman here as a boy, doing farm chores.

MARTHA: Superman? What does Superman have to do with anything?

CLARK: It's OK, Mom. She knows.

JONATHAN: Oh, great. Now there are two girls who know about it.

LOIS: Two girls?

CLARK: Three, counting Mom.

LOIS: Your mother and two girls?

CLARK: Mom will always be my best girl, you know.

LOIS: Yes, and who's number three?

On cue, Lana comes in, hamming her entrance a little, reminding us that she was the lead high-school actress.

LANA: That would be me.

She crosses to say hello first to Jonathan and Martha. The greeting is very friendly, but not like a 're-introduction,' so apparently they have kept in touch.

LANA: Actually I was the second, so I guess you're number three.

She turns finally to Clark, her voice breaking a little.

LANA: Hi Clark, it's so good to see you again. I kept thinking about you when I read about all those strange things happening in Metropolis - and Berlin.

She hugs him, and he loses himself in the hug for a moment then remembers he has "company."

CLARK: Um, Lana Lang - Lois Lane.

Both women chuckle at the phonetic coincidence. The five settle down in temporary silence, Lois and Lana on either side of Clark. Lois adopts her reporter persona for the moment.

LOIS: So, was everything always easy for young Superman here?

LANA: You've obviously never been in Mrs. McPartland's history class, or you wouldn't ask that question.

LOIS: Alright, that's one point for Lana, I concede.

LANA: Oh, you concede? Good.

In turning to Lois, she moves subtly closer to Clark.

LOIS: No, that wasn't a complete sentence, it was an appositive phrase.

She turns and moves closer to Lana, in order to jaw with her, and in the process of course also moves a little closer to Clark.

LANA: Oh dern it all... I'd a' plum - nigh - near - done forgot about them appositive phrases...

LOIS: Alright, you've made your point, Frontier Lass.

LANA: "Frontier Lass," I kind of like that! Do I get a uniform?

She invites Clark to check out her biceps.

JONATHAN: Boy, doesn't Clark look as happy as a pig in...

MARTHA: JONATHAN!

CLARK: Actually, Lois, there's something I have had difficulty with since I was eighteen. It might help explain why I blew up at you back in Berlin.

**In the sub-basement, **the area where the Ghost of Jor-El's Head first appeared is now covered with curtains. Clark moves to pull them aside, then turns to Lois and Lana.

CLARK: You have to prepare yourselves; this is going to be a bit of a shock.

The curtains are drawn, and Lois and Lana do manage to restrain their reaction to the Head.

JOR-EL: My son...

MARTHA: You don't get to call him that.

JOR-EL: ...it is futile for you to attempt resisting your destiny.

CLARK: Then what's the point of your arguing with me, if it's all inevitable?

The Head flares and tries to look doubly grand and awful.

JOR-EL: It disappoints me to see you taking orders from your inferiors.

CLARK: I'm superior because I'm stronger and faster? I guess that means I'm the rightful slave of anybody who's stronger and faster than me. You're sure there isn't anybody in this galaxy who fits that bill? Or maybe a machine being built right now, here on Earth?

JONATHAN: "As I would be no man's slave, I would be nobody's master. One follows from the other." One of our democratically-elected officials said that about four score and seven years ago.

JOR-EL: Where there is confusion in the hierarchy, there will be confusion in the state.

CLARK: Everybody is better at some things and worse at others. And nobody learns anything unless they're willing to take instruction.

MARTHA: I guess there are some things even children learn in Kansas that they haven't caught up to out on Krypton. I must admit, though, not every child learns it, even in our best schools. That's why I'm proud of you, honey.

JOR-EL: But I do approve of your choice of mates. They look as if they will provide fine heirs for your dynasty.

Two purses are simultaneously thrown through the Head's nostrils.

JOR-EL: Your world faces a need for stability. It faces a need for guidance. It requires imperium.

CLARK: And what about truth and justice?

JOR-EL: That is not the Kryptonian way.

CLARK: No, obviously not. But I'd like to think it is the American way. Show's over; let's draw the curtains.

**Back in the living room, **the party seats itself.

LOIS: So that's who - what you were hearing back at the station? Can't you - turn him off?

CLARK (_shaking his head_): It's a really indestructible TV station. It's a very good transmitter, it's just a terrible program.

LOIS: But Clark...

Clark smiles at Lois as, for the first time since the walk in the Berlin park, Lois does not address him as "Superman."

LOIS: ...you must find it tempting some times; to make yourself into a Super Alexander, or Caesar.

CLARK: Everybody has role models to help them. For me, when I'm facing a dilemma, I try to ask myself...

Lois waits, reporter's pen figuratively poised.

CLARK: "What would Dorothy do?"

Lois threatens the Man of Steel with grave bodily harm.

MARTHA: And he knows that if he tried becoming a world conqueror, there would be no more of my chicken pie for him.

CLARK: And seriously, that's it really. When you know there are people who love you, and expect things from you...

He looks around at all four.

CLARK: Well I guess it's really not all that difficult after all.

The five sit back on the couches for a while.

JONATHAN: Well, Clark, since we knew you were coming home, we saved some ploughing for you...

CLARK: The never-ending battle.

Under a full sun, Clark is back at the plough. Wide angle shot of the five among amber fields of grain. Closing music from the old b&w TV series plays.

THE END


End file.
